In the second round of the French legislative elections, the leading force was the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, which won 182 seats in the National Assembly. This advance prevents a majority for the far-right National Rally – Marine Le Pen’s party – which won 143 seats and would thus be in third place, despite having won the first round. It also opens the door to a possible coalition between Macron (168 seats) and the left, as the latter does not have an absolute majority (289 seats).
The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has announced that he will present his resignation to President Macron this Monday, “faithful to the republican tradition” after the defeat of the parties that supported his government.
The result is devilish – Mélenchon’s New Popular Front advocates, for example, an increase in public spending of more than €300 billion, despite the fact that Brussels has just opened an excessive deficit procedure against France – but the scenario most feared by Europe, the triumph of Le Pen, has not materialised.
