A coalition of far-left parties unexpectedly formed ahead of France’s general election is expected to win a disputed majority of parliamentary seats and the country’s prime minister has threatened to resign, guiding the country into unexpected territory and potentially plunging it into turmoil.
As the election results were announced, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he would resign on Monday.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition was expected to win the second most seats, with the far-right predicted to come in third.
President Macron called the elections just four weeks ago after his right-wing National Rally (RN) party won a landslide victory in June’s European Parliament elections. Polls before the first round had predicted the RN would continue to lead. But more recent polls ahead of the runoff show its support falling and the RN is forecast to fall short of a clear majority.
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French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal speaks after the second round of voting in legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurélien Molissard)
The first round of voting took place on June 30 to determine representatives for 76 of the 577 constituencies in the French National Assembly. Candidates who did not receive a majority of the votes in the first round advanced to a second runoff election, held on Sunday.
France went into the election expecting the RN to be the largest party in power, but the hotly contested election could see no party emerge with a clear majority.
As election results began to come in, predictions shifted to the left, showing that no coalition would be able to secure a majority, threatening to plunge France into economic and political chaos.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the far-left party Indulge in a France (LFI), speaks at the party’s election headquarters in Paris on Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Final results from the election are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday.
Macron took a big gamble by calling early elections, but projections suggest the gamble may not have paid off for the unpopular president and his allies, who may have lost control of parliament.
Although the far-right RN party significantly increased its number of seats, the results fell short of the party’s expectations.
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Socialist Party supporters react after the second round of voting in the legislative elections held at the party’s election headquarters in Paris on Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurélien Molissard)
Given that his party is expected to take the lead, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has called on President Macron to invite the left-wing New Popular Front coalition to form a government.
Macron’s office said the president would “wait for the new National Assembly to be formed” before taking any decisions.
Rival camps move to thwart France’s right-wing National Party’s electoral momentum
French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron leave a polling station before the second round of legislative elections, in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Pivotal runoff elections began Sunday in mainland France that could deliver a historic victory for Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rally National and its inward-looking, anti-immigration vision, or lead to a hanging parliament and political deadlock. (Mohammed Badra via The Associated Press)
A hanging parliament, with no party coming close to the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two major legislative bodies, will be uncharted territory for modern France.
France has no tradition of members of opposing political camps coming together to form a majority.
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If this prediction is confirmed by official figures, it will create great uncertainty for France, the pillar of the European Union and the second-largest economy, as it is unclear who will be the prime minister to rule France alongside Macron.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
