France faces a hung legislature with no clear candidate for prime minister after no party managed to win an outright majority in the second round of the parliamentary election, local media reported on Sunday, citing final count data provided by the Ministry of the Interior.
The right-wing National Rally party (RN), linked to Marine Le Pen, which emerged as the frontrunner last weekend, finished third this time, winning 143 seats in the 577-strong National Assembly.
The New Popular Front (NFP) also failed to secure an absolute majority in the legislature, winning 182 seats. In the first round last weekend, it secured only 32 mandates compared to RN’s 37 but managed to boost results dramatically following “tactical withdrawals” by hundreds of candidates.
President Emmanuel Macron’s liberal Ensemble coalition trailed the left with 168 seats, according to Le Monde.
Turnout this weekend is estimated to have been 67.1%, according to Ipsos Talan, which would be the highest since 1997 if confirmed.
Macron has refused to address the nation following the vote. The Elysee Palace said the president will analyze the election results before making any further steps, adding that he would wait for the new parliament to be formed to “take the necessary decisions.” The head of state would “respect the choice of the French people,” the statement added.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced in the wake of the exit poll results that he would submit his resignation on Tuesday. He was re-elected in his constituency and will now join the National Assembly as an MP, according to French media.
Attal also stated he would “never accept” the fact that “millions” of people in France voted for those he called “radicals.” He also remarked that the “strength of our values” had prevented radical forces from getting an absolute majority in the legislature.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the head of the France Unbowed party, which is a member of the NFP, called on Macron to “accept defeat” and to let the left-wing coalition form the new government. “We have achieved a result that we were told was impossible,” he said, adding that “the president must call on the New Popular Front to govern.”
RN leader Jordan Bardella lauded “the most important breakthrough in [the] entire history” of his party. He still blamed what he called an “alliance of dishonor” between Macron’s party and the left-wing coalition for preventing a RN victory, apparently referring to the “tactical withdrawals” ahead of the second round.
The party’s veteran politician and its former leader, Marine Le Pen said she had “too much experience to be disappointed by a result where we double the number of our [MPs].” She also stated that the RN’s ultimate “victory is only delayed.”
Macron called early parliamentary elections in the wake of the RN’s strong performance in the European Parliament elections in early June. Members of the National Assembly are elected in single-seat constituencies through direct voting in two rounds. A candidate can win outright in the first round if they get over half of the vote. If none achieves this feat, any candidate reaching the 12.5% threshold enters the second round.
Ahead of this weekend’s vote, Macron’s Renaissance party and the NFP resorted to what the media called “tactical withdrawals.” As many as 200 candidates from the president’s party and the left-wing coalition withdrew from the second round to avoid splitting the vote between them, and to prevent the RN party from getting an absolute majority (289 seats) in the parliament.