2024-07-09 05:31:18
218 centrist-left members resign ahead of second round of voting
RN, who won first place in the first round of voting, was pushed down to third place
Left Alliance becomes the first party without a majority vote
Concerns over ‘combative cohabitation government’ when left-wing prime minister
Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Invincible (LFI), a hard-left party in France, gives a victory speech to his supporters in Paris on the 7th (local time). Paris = AP Newsis
In the second round of the French early general election, the left-wing coalition overturned expectations that the far-right party would win, and achieved a surprising victory. As the center-left coalition managed to unify their candidates at the last minute and voters rallied with a high voter turnout for the first time in 43 years, the far-right party that came in first in the first round of voting held on the 30th of last month (local time) ended up falling to third place. Some say that this is the emergence of a “Republican Front” in which the center and the left cooperate to block the far right, and citizens actively participate in the election.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, in the second round of voting in the general election held on the 7th, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition won 182 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, becoming the largest party. The centrist Ensemble led by French President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party Renaissance came in second with 168 seats, and the far-right National Rally (RN) came in third with 143 seats. The orthodox conservative Party of the Republican Party, which has produced several presidents including Charles de Gaulle and Nicolas Sarkozy, who founded the French Fifth Republic, came in fourth with 45 seats.
● The power of unification after 218 candidates gave up after the first round of voting
Originally, France held a general election in June 2022, so a new parliament was supposed to be formed in 2027, five years later. However, President Macron dissolved the parliament after the RN won a landslide victory in the European Parliament elections that ended on the 9th of last month with 31.5% of the vote, more than double Renaissance (14.6%). At the time, he said, “The anger (of voters) was expressed in the election, and we cannot pretend as if nothing happened,” and that he would have the people re-evaluate. His intention was also to prevent the RN from gaining more influence in the 2027 presidential election.
In the French general election, a candidate must win at least 25% of the registered voters in each constituency in the first round and at least 50% of the actual total votes in order to be elected. In constituencies without such candidates, only candidates who win at least 12.5% of the votes advance to the second round, where the winner is determined by the majority vote. The vote percentages in the first round on the 30th of last month were RN (33.2%), NFP (28.0%), and the pan-government ensemble (20.8%). There were 76 constituencies where the final winner was determined in the first round, and RN won in 39 of them.
As the possibility of the far right becoming the ‘first party’ in parliament increased, a total of 218 candidates, including 130 NFP candidates and 82 Ensemble candidates, gave up their second-round candidacy and unified with other candidates. They promoted an anti-far right alliance that would give votes to RN’s rivals. Voters also came out to block the far right with a voter turnout of 59.7%, the highest in 43 years since 1981. The British Financial Times (FT) commented, “The anti-far right strategy of the left and the center joining forces to unify the candidates for the second-round vote was a huge success.”
● “Concerns about a combative cohabitation government”
Although the RN’s rise to power has been thwarted, there are assessments that the far-right surge has not died down. The British Economist also pointed out that “the number of RN seats has increased rapidly from 88 to 143, and the RN, which was once an outcast in the outskirts, has emerged as a major party respected by the public.”
In this general election, no party won the majority of 289 seats, so a “sans majorité absolue” parliament will be formed, just like the general election held immediately after the 2022 presidential election. In France, which has a mixed presidential and parliamentary system, the president tends to appoint the leader of the majority party as prime minister. The NFP, which became the largest party, is pressuring President Macron to give them the right to form a government, but President Macron asked Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who resigned on the night of the election, on the 8th, “To ensure the stability of the country, please stay in office for the time being.”
However, it cannot be ruled out that Prime Minister Attal will step down and a strong left-wing prime minister will emerge. In that case, President Macron will have to experience a “combative cohabitation” with a heterogeneous prime minister during his remaining three years in office. “The two rounds of voting are over, but the third round to form a government is just beginning,” said France Radio Internationale (RFI).
Paris = Correspondent Jo Eun-ah [email protected]
Reporter Lee Ji-yoon [email protected]
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2024-07-09 05:31:18