France: Far-Left Supporters Celebrate Election Win Over Far-Right, Attack Police

The far-left alliance returned from their defeat in the first-round election last week to win the second-round election against the far-right in France.

The left-wing New Popular Front party won 182 seats in the parliament, while the centrist Ensemble alliance of President Emmanuel Macron won 163 seats. Far-right National Rally (RN) won 143 seats, the opposite of the first-round results, where RN had won the majority of the seats.

The far-left supporters took to the streets Sunday night to celebrate their win over the far right. In some areas, the jubilant supporters took things to the extreme. Videos circulated on X showed a group of leftist supporters throwing bottles at the French police, with the police chasing the crowd away.

Paris has turned into a battlefield tonight as the far-left is celebrating its election win by attacking the police pic.twitter.com/dVSMJxjuH0

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 7, 2024

Despite the far-right’s win, no party won an absolute majority, not even close, which means France has a hung parliament. A party must secure at least 289 of the 577 parliament seats to win an absolute majority.

President Macron’s task now will be to appoint a new prime minister from the opposition – the left-wing coalition. The current prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has announced he will tender his resignation letter on Monday. Attal is a member of the Renaissance Party, same as President Macron.

The Elysee – equivalent to America’s White House – announced that the president is waiting for the full results “before taking the necessary decisions.”

“In his role as guarantor of our institutions, the president will ensure that the sovereign choice of the French people is respected,” the statement said.

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