In what may be seen as a great surprise, the Left-Wing parties have trumped the Far-Rights in the 2024 French Parliamentary Elections, with the Western European country facing a Hung Parliament as not a single party (or alliance) has managed to get an Absolute Majority (289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, the Lower House of the bicameral French Legislature). The Left Alliance has saved the face of French President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, in a way!

As per the outcome of Second (as well as Final) Round of Parliamentary Elections, the Left-Wing New Popular Front, under the leadership of Jean-Luc Melenchon, has won 188 seats (32.6% of votes) to emerge as the single largest alliance. Surprisingly, Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen‘s Far-Right National Rally (RN) and its allies, which bagged 31% of votes to finish top in the First Round, managed to secure the third position with 142 seats (24.6% of votes)! Meanwhile, the Centrist Ensemble coalition, led by President Macron’s Renaissance (RE) Party, managed to secure the second position with 161 seats (27.9% of votes). Gabriel Attal, the leader of Macron’s Centrist Coalition, announced his resignation as the Prime Minister immediately after the results were announced on July 8, 2024.

This time, a number of Left-Wing parties joined forces to thwart Le Pen’s Far-Right victory. This coalition includes Far-Left outfits, Socialists and the Green Party, which works to protect the environment. After the success of the Far-Rights in the First Round of elections, the Centrist and the Left-Wing parties made some adjustments in several constituencies. The Left-Wing and the Centrist alliances withdrew their candidates from at least 200 seats in order to avoid a three-way contest, creating troubles for the Far-Right National Rally. As a result, Far-Right parties were in direct competition either with Left-Wing alliance or with the Centrist coalition in the majority of constituencies!

Irrespective of the outcome of the Parliamentary Elections, Macron shall remain President until 2027. France currently has a Quasi-Presidential System of governance. Although the decision of the President is final in the implementation of foreign or defence policies, the Prime Minister plays an important role in determining the internal policies. Had the Far-Right secured an Absolute Majority in the Parliament, the differences between the President and the Prime Minister on various important issues would have come to light! In France, two different parties enjoyed a majority in the Upper House (Senate) and Lower House (National Assembly) of the Parliament (at a time) thrice in the past… between 1997 and 2002. If an Opposition party has the majority in the Lower House, then the President faces problems as the National Assembly ensures a proper enactment of the laws!

Earlier in July (2024), President Macron decided to bring forward the Parliamentary Election after his party’s defeat to the National Rally in the European Parliament Elections. According to political analysts, this move was basically a gamble. A large section of the French electorates is angry about the rate of inflation and various economic crises under Macron’s Presidency. Many living in France believe that Macron is arrogant and detached from the everyday life of common people! Some are of the opinion that the President runs the country like a CEO of an organisation, who has failed to build alliances with stakeholders.

It may be noted that both the Left and Socialist parties are against a number of decisions made by Macron! However, many have expressed hope that the President will be able to come to a consensus with the Left-Wing alliance.

How Israel Polarises French Society
(TRT World) Though the Far-Right did not enjoy electoral victory in France, Israel is still encouraged by the RN’s gains and continues to cheer for its success in a divided country.

Along with their anti-Muslim sentiment, and xenophobic and anti-immigration rhetoric, many Far-Right groups are now staunch supporters of Israel, breaking from their traditionally anti-Semitic views. At a time when Israel stands accused of war crimes in Gaza, many French Jews joined the Israeli Army! Some of them openly called for emigration to Israel, while others openly shared their war crimes on their social media accounts.

Following the elections, Tel Aviv will also increase efforts to woo the Jewish diaspora in France and convince the French Jews to make aliyah to Israel.

This weekend, everyone expected the Far-Right to win Parliamentary Elections in France. However, millions of people had other ideas. They voted to beat the Far-Right’s hate and division. As a result, the Far-Rights finished third! Indeed, it is unbelievable!

And it is not just in France. In the biggest election year in history, Far-Right Populists were planning to pop the champagne in country after country across Europe. However, people rose to beat them back across the continent. The Far-Right grew a little, but the Centrists held.

With inputs from TRT World.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das