PARIS (AP) \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s centrist alliance was projected to lose its majority despite getting the most seats in the final round of parliamentary elections Sunday, while the far-right National Rally appeared to have made big gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The projections, which are based on partial results, say Macron\u2019s candidates would win between 230 and 250 seats \u2014 much less than the 289 required to have a straight majority at the National Assembly, France\u2019s most powerful house of parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The situation, which is highly unusual in France, is expected to make Macron\u2019s political maneuvering difficult if the projections are borne out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A new coalition \u2014 made up of the hard left, the Socialists and the Greens \u2014 is expected to become the main opposition force with about 140 to 160 seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Rally is projected to register a huge surge with potentially more than 80 seats, up from eight before. Polling was held nationwide to select the 577 members of the National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The strong performance of both the National Rally and the leftist coalition called Nupes, led by hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, is expected to make it harder for Macron to implement the agenda he was reelected on in May, including tax cuts and raising France\u2019s retirement age from 62 to 65.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the \u201cunprecedented\u201d situation \u201cis a risk to our country faced with challenges at the national level as well as at the international scale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the central force in that new Assembly … we will work, as of tomorrow, to build an action-oriented majority,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no alternative but gathering to guarantee our country some stability and lead the necessary reforms,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Borne, who herself won a seat in western France, suggested Macron\u2019s centrist alliance will seek to get support from lawmakers from diverse political forces to find \u201cgood compromises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Rally\u2019s leader, Marine Le Pen, who lost to Macron in the presidential election, was reelected as MP in her stronghold of H\u00e9nin-Beaumont, in northern France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Macron adventure has reached its end,\u201d Le Pen said. The group of National Rally lawmakers \u201cwill be by far the biggest of the history of our political family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acting National Rally president Jordan Bardella compared his party\u2019s showing to a \u201ctsunami.\u201d \u201cTonight\u2019s message is that the French people made from Emmanuel Macron a minority president,\u201d he said on TF1 television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the electoral failure of the \u2018Macronie\u2019,\u201d M\u00e9lenchon said, criticizing \u201ca moral failure of those people who lectured everyone non-stop and said they would block the far-right, and the main result is that they reinforced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron\u2019s government will still have the ability to rule, but only by bargaining with legislators. The centrists could try to negotiate on a case by case basis with lawmakers from the center-left and from the conservative party \u2014 with the goal of preventing opposition lawmakers from being numerous enough to reject the proposed measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The government could also occasionally use a special measure provided by the French Constitution to adopt a law without a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government spokesperson Olivia Gr\u00e9goire said on France 2 television that \u201cwe\u2019ve known better evenings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a disappointing top position, but still a top position,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are holding out a helping hand to all those who are OK to make that country move forward,\u201d she said, notably referring to The Republicans party, which is expected to have less seats than the far-right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A similar situation happened in 1988 under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand, who then had to seek support from the Communists or the centrists to pass laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These parliamentary elections have once again largely been defined by voter apathy \u2014 with over half the electorate staying home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Audrey Paillet, 19, who cast her ballot in Boussy-Saint-Antoine in southeastern Paris, was saddened that so few people turned out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome people have fought to vote. It is too bad that most of the young people don\u2019t do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron had made a powerfully choreographed plea to voters earlier this week from the tarmac ahead of a trip to Romania and Ukraine, warning that an inconclusive election, or hung parliament, would put the nation in danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn these troubled times, the choice you\u2019ll make this Sunday is more crucial than ever,\u201d he said Tuesday, with the presidential plane waiting starkly in the background ahead of a visit to French troops stationed near Ukraine. \u201cNothing would be worse than adding French disorder to the world\u2019s disorder,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some voters agreed, and argued against choosing candidates on the political extremes who have been gaining popularity. Others argued that the French system, which grants broad power to the president, should give more voice to the multi-faceted parliament and function with more checks on the presidential Elysee palace and its occupant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not afraid to have a National Assembly that\u2019s more split up among different parties. I\u2019m hoping for a regime that\u2019s more parliamentarian and less presidential, like you can have in other countries,\u201d said Simon Nouis, an engineer voting in southern Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Nupes\u2019 headquarters in Paris on Sunday evening, Pierre Migozzi, a leftist supporter, said the results show French politics have been rekindled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a divide between people who want to guarantee the established order (Macron), people against free-market policies who want a new world turned toward the youth (Nupes), and people who recognize themselves in the National Rally\u2019s motto of being the party of the people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 26-year-old, who grew up in central France, expressed concern about the far-right\u2019s results, saying the National Rally \u201cis not an answer\u201d to the issues of France\u2019s suburbs and rural areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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