French election: Emmanuel Macron loses absolute majority in parliament in major setback
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Paris: In a stunning blow to his plans for major second-term reform, French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday lost his parliamentary majority after major election gains by a newly formed left-wing alliance and the far right.
As per reports, the result threw French politics into turmoil, raising the prospect of a paralyzed legislature or messy coalitions with Macron forced to reach out to new allies.
According to a range of projections by five French polling firms after Sunday's second round, Macron's "Together" coalition was on course to be the biggest party in the next National Assembly, but with 200-260 seats it will be short of the 289 seats needed for a majority.
"Of course, it's a first place that is disappointing," government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire told BFM television. "We're lower than we would have hoped."
The outcome has also severely tarnished Macron's April presidential election victory when he defeated the far-right to be the first French president to win a second term in over two decades.
The new left-wing coalition NUPES under 70-year-old hard-left figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon was on course to win 149-200 seats, according to projections.
The coalition, formed in May after the left splintered for April's presidential elections, brings together Socialists, the hard left, Communists, and Greens.
The left only had 60 seats in the outgoing parliament, meaning they could triple their representation.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen's National Rally party was also on track for huge gains after having only eight seats in the outgoing parliament.
It was due to send 60-102 MPs to the new parliament, according to the projections.
Macron, 44, had hoped to stamp his second term with an ambitious program of tax cuts, welfare reform, and raising the retirement age that is now in question.
"This will complicate the reforms... It will be much more difficult to govern," said Dominique Rousseau, professor of law at Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne University.
As president, Macron retains control over foreign policy, with the 44-year-old seeking to play a prominent role in putting an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Melenchon called Sunday's results "above all an electoral failure" for Macron. "The root of the presidential party is total and there will be no majority," in parliament, he told cheering supporters in Paris.
