France Elections: Leftist Alliance Takes Top Spot In A Major Blow To Le Pen Leaving Hung Assembly

France Elections: Centrist Emmanual Macron, who called the snap election to clarify the political landscape, also suffered a blow and ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament.

Hard left leader Jean_Luc_Mélenchon (centre) demanded that the president must invite the alliance to form government. (Image Source: X/@@JLMelenchon)

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French voters handed over an unexpected gain to the leftist alliance in the snap polls, delivering a major blow to Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (NR) on Sunday. With no group winning a majority, the mandate has thrown up a hung assembly which will leave the parliament divided into three big groups- the left, centrists, and the far right. 

Centrist Emmanual Macron, who called the snap election to clarify the political landscape, also suffered a blow and ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament. The election result is set to weaken France's role in the European Union and elsewhere abroad and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda. 

The leftist New Popular Front (NPF) alliance immediately said it wanted to govern. Capping prices of essential goods like fuel and food, raising the minimum wage to a net 1,600 euros per month, hiking wages for public sector workers and imposing a wealth tax are among the agendas of the NPF, reported Reuters. 

"The will of the people must be strictly respected ... the president must invite the New Popular Front to govern," said hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

Under Le Pen, the RN has worked to shed a historic reputation for racism and antisemitism but many in French society still view its France-first stance and surging popularity with alarm. 

The political turmoil could rattle markets and the French economy, the EU's second-largest ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics 2024. It could also have far-ranging implications for the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy, and Europe's economic stability, reported the Associated Press. 

Calling the elections on June 9 after the far right surged in French voting for the European Parliament, President Emmanual Macron said turning to voters again would provide "clarification". 

However, the gamble appears to have backfired as all three main blocks fell short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the more powerful of France's two legislative chambers.