in the balance
Pro-Macron alliance ties with left-wing bloc in 1st round of French parliamentary elections
French voters cast ballots on Sunday in the first round of their country's parliamentary elections, and the results suggest to some pollsters that the coalition supporting newly re-elected President Emmanuel Macron could be in danger of losing its majority in the National Assembly.
Voter turnout was around 47 percent, the lowest participation rate since the French Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.
According to France's interior ministry, Macron's alliance, Ensemble, received 5,857,561 votes — 25.75 percent — barely edging out Mélenchon's New Ecologic and Social People's Union, which received 5,836,202 votes, or 25.66 percent.
Other top vote-getters were Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally (18.68 percent), the center-right Republicans (10.42 percent), and Éric Zemmour's far-right Reconquest (4.24 percent). Zemmour himself failed to finish in the top two in the constituency for which he ran, and will not advance to the second round, which will take place on June 12.
Macron's allies currently hold 346 of the National Assembly's 577 seats. Polling firm Ipsos predicts Ensemble will win the greatest number of seats, between 255 and 295. This range straddles the 289 seats required for an absolute majority. If Macron's alliance falls below that number, his ability to govern will be severely hindered.