Tag: France

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he would offer his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, following his party’s failure to secure a majority in the parliamentary elections. However, he stated he was prepared to remain in office “as long as duty demands,” especially with the Paris Olympics set to begin in three weeks.

In a surprising turn of events, an alliance of French left-wing parties was on track to become the largest parliamentary bloc, surpassing both the far right and President Macron’s coalition. No single group achieved an absolute majority, leaving France in political uncertainty just two days before a significant NATO summit and three weeks before the Paris Olympics.

The New Popular Front (NFP) — established last month after Macron called for snap elections — united the previously divided Socialists, Greens, Communists, and the hard-left France Unbowed into a single camp. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) led the initial round of voting on June 30, with opinion polls predicting it would become the largest party in parliament after Sunday’s run-off.

Despite this, projections based on vote samples from four major polling agencies on Sunday indicated no group was on track for an absolute majority, with the left-wing NFP leading Macron’s centrist Ensemble and Le Pen’s eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN.

An aide reported that Macron, who has not yet publicly addressed the projections, called for “prudence and analysis of the results.” Le Pen remarked, “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, consequently, our victory has only been delayed.”