Live Updates: No Party Wins Absolute Majority in France Elections, Projections Show
Category: World News
Via: hallux • 4 months ago • 30 commentsBy: Roger Cohen and Aurelien Breeden - NYT
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The left was set to surge in legislative elections in France on Sunday and the far right came up short of expectations, according to early projections, as no party secured an absolute majority.
In a surprising performance, the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front , emerged as a front-runner for the most seats in two early projections, though the final results could change the picture.
Several polls had the left and Mr. Macron’s centrist coalition jockeying for the largest number of seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament where most legislative power resides. Five projections had the far right in the third position.
The surge in the left came as a shock to many in France, where the National Rally had emerged at the top performer in the first round of voting last week. The unexpected results also point to potential gridlock for the government in the coming months at a time when many in France are angry over issues like inflation and immigration.
The polls closed at 8 p.m. local time and official results will come in throughout the night.
In the first round of voting last week, President Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance, and its allies came in a distant third. Mr. Macron’s centrist bloc and the New Popular Front withdrew candidates from more than 200 races in an effort to band together voters opposed to the far right. That strategy appeared to have succeeded in denying the National Rally an absolute majority, according to the projections.
But Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally, acknowledged that his party has fallen short of expectations, even though it appeared to be on track to get more lawmakers into the lower house than ever before.
“Today the National Rally made the biggest breakthrough in its history,” Mr. Bardella told supporters in Paris. “Unfortunately,” he added, “dangerous electoral deals” made by Mr. Macron’s allies and the left had “deprived” the country of a far-right government.
Here’s what else to know:
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High turnout: Voter participation at 5 p.m. local time was the highest in over two decades, at nearly 60 percent, the Interior Ministry said . That was much higher than during the previous legislative elections in 2022, when the participation rate at the same time was about 38 percent.
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Far right rebranded: Long marginalized by voters, the National Rally has attempted to remake its image in recent years. Its campaign appealed to voters angry over inflation, immigration and a sense of abandonment.
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Macron weakened: The French president, who has three more years in office, called the elections for the 577-seat National Assembly, France’s lower and more prominent house of Parliament, last month in a risky gamble . A divided National Assembly will see Mr. Macron’s beleaguered centrists squeezed between far-right and far-left groups that detest each other and him.“We’re worried, that’s what’s predominant.
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We’re worried about the rise of the far right. It’s really fear that’s driving us, not the hope that there will be something positive in all this. ”
Lawrence Langlois, 39, a teacher who voted in Le Mans
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Let's face it, conservatives are no longer conservatives, they've one and all sold their 'souls' to xenophobic 'delights'.
Really? Wow!
It's France, for crying out loud.
Who cares as long as they pay their NATO bill?
Agreed but thanks for Revolutionary War assist and sweet statue.
Duty!
Aw ... has France not done anything for you lately?
More than repaid--with interest--with the US involvement in both world wars.
I have never been in the habit of asking anyone or anything to do stuff for me.
Has France done anything to benefit me lately?
Listen to what you are preached and you will not be so surprised.
I have. It’s just that I’m not triggered so I’m not surprised.
Are you discounting what those 2 wars did for the US?
The first one was the war to end all wars.
That was H.G. Wells being ironic.
Discounting billions of taxpayers dollars and hundreds of thousands American deaths?
what an absurd question!
Does not seem to bother you when the left is similarly chided.
Yeah, I mean whats over half a million dead to defend Europe.
We owed them that and more. Shame on us.
No need. My friends here on the left fight most chides like that vociferously. It’s actually pretty fun to watch ….
So.......What are the odds that someone is going to say you support Nazi's?
[✘]
There is no "NATO Bill". Many people don't understand the situation.
NATO countries "agreement" is to spend a certain portion of their budget on defense! (That money can buy weapons-- from any source they want) They don't owe the money to NATO, they don't pay it to NATO! They use it to buy weapons-- or any other defense related expense.
(And BTW, since the U.S. has one of the largest defense industries in the world-- and some of the best weapon sytems are manufactured here buy U/S. companies-- much of NATO countries defense money goes directly to American defense industries!
Why, no, there are no invoices sent out.
I hope you can deduce what I meant by my words, though.
I want every NATO member to pay what they have previously agreed to even though many haven't paid that amount.
You know---PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE!
France always comes close to the 2% GDP target, in 2023 they spent 1.9% of GDP on defense. The big slackers are: Germany, Canada, Italy, and Belgium.
Our friends to north?
Say it ain’t so.
Yes, and liberals are no longer liberals, well established already.
'Delights'?.. Is that the opposite of identity politik?
Ask a RINO.
Why? And why a RINO?... You said it, seems logical to ask you.
Or ask a HIPPO!
Colombia’s ‘Cocaine Hippo’ Population I s Even Bigger Than Scientists Thought
RINO HIPPO - what's in a name?
Are you referring to all conservatives (in all the countries of the world)-- or just those in France?
All.
Nothing sweeping about that generalization.
Just as I suspected!!!