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France is Safe. For Now
A shock election result puts the left in the lead
A left-wing alliance became the largest force in the French parliament on Sunday after tactical voting kept the far right at bay, but the shape of the future government remained uncertain after no group won an outright majority.
The surprise result for the leftist New Popular Front — which won 182 seats, followed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance with 163 and the far right in third place with 143 seats — showed the strength of tactical voting against Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN). The far right and its allies had taken a commanding lead in the first round, but were ultimately held back by massive tactical voting that prevented them from winning enough seats to form a government.
Although the Left Alliance won the most seats, it fell more than 100 seats short of an absolute majority. With a high turnout of about 67%, no group won an absolute majority of 289 seats and the opportunity to form a government. The parliament is likely to be divided into three blocs: left, centrist and far-right.
The winner of the French legislative elections came as a surprise, but the result was quite expected: a hung parliament consisting of three opposing blocs with completely different platforms and no tradition of cooperation and, according to the French constitution, no new elections for a year.
France now enters a period of unprecedented uncertainty over the shape of the future government and its likely prime minister. Macron has pledged to stay on as president, but on Sunday night he did not speak publicly, and after the exit polls were released he privately urged people to be “prudent” until the final results become clear on Monday morning.
It could now take weeks to form a government, and it is unclear what form it will take, with the Olympics due to begin in Paris in less than three weeks.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced that he will tender his resignation to President Macron on Monday morning. But he also said he could stay in his post for a short period of time, if…
