Today’s first round legislative elections confirmed a massive rejection of President Emmanuel Macon. As of 1:20 a.m. CET, Le Monde shows the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen, and of her protégé Jordan Bardella, leading in 297 of the 577 districts, the leftist New Popular Front leading in 153, and Macron’s centrist grouping, “Ensemble,” in 65. A candidate wins the parliamentary seat by obtaining over 50% of the vote. Failing that, the top two candidates in each district qualify for the second round of votes on July 7, to determine the 577 members of the Assemblée Nationale. Bloomberg vote share estimate had 33-34.2% for the National Rally; 28.1-29.6% for the New Popular Front; and 20.7-22.4% for Macron’s Ensemble.
Le Pen addressed a celebratory crowd, exclaiming: “The French have almost wiped out the ‘Macronist’ bloc.” The vote shows France’s “willingness to turn the page after seven years of contemptuous and corrosive power.” Macron stayed behind closed doors throughout the evening.
Macron had disbanded the parliament after his disastrous results in the June 9 elections for EU Parliament and called for the early elections in France. After years of low voter participation, it seems that at least 66% of the eligible voters turned out to give Macron a hard slap in the face.
