2024 French legislative election
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An early legislative election is expected to be held in France in two rounds on 30 June and 7 July 2024, to elect the 577 members of the 17th National Assembly of the Fifth French Republic. This follows President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call a snap legislative election after the results of the 2024 European Parliament election were announced in which his L'Europe Ensemble suffered a heavy defeat to the far-right National Rally,[1] which prompted him to dissolve the National Assembly.[2]
Background[edit]
Following the 2022 legislative election, Ensemble lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly. Among the member parties of the coalition was President Emmanuel Macron's party, Renaissance (formerly La République En Marche!) – for the first time since 1997, the incumbent president failed to have an absolute majority in the National Assembly. Meanwhile the two main opposition blocs, the left-wing New Ecological and Social People's Union (NUPES) and populist right-wing National Rally (RN), saw a major surge in seats won. Despite that, no group won the absolute majority, resulting in a hung parliament for the first time since 1988.[3]
On 9 June 2024, shortly after 21:00 CET, Macron dissolved parliament and called for snap parliamentary elections in a national address following exit polls that indicated that the Renaissance party would be significantly eclipsed by the RN in votes for France's European Parliament elections. In his address, he called the rise of nationalism by agitators a threat to France, Europe, and France's place in the world. He also decried the far right as the "impoverishment of the French people and the downfall of our country". The first round of elections are scheduled for 30 June, and a second round for 7 July.[4]
RN leader Jordan Bardella called the disparity a "stinging disavowal" of Macron, calling for him to dissolve parliament in the wake of the defeat he called "Day 1 of the post-Macron era".[5] Marine Le Pen, who leads the RN in the National Assembly, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise, celebrated the poll results and welcomed the call for snap elections.[4]
The decision to hold an election came as a surprise, and was considered risky. Some suggested that Macron wished to force a decision between the RN and their opposition, others that Macron intended to win a majority. The decision was criticized by members of several political parties, with the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, expressing concerns about its effects on the upcoming Olympics.[6][7]
Campaign[edit]
Leftist politician François Ruffin called on all left-wing parties, including the Greens, to form a “Popular front” in order to avoid the "worst" outcome.[8] Calls for unity were also shared by Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, Greens leader Marine Tondelier and French Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel.[9] A letter of 350 intellectuals (including Esther Duflo and Annie Ernaux) calling for a union of left-wing forces was published in Le Monde on 10 June.[10] The New Popular Front was established on the same day.[11] The coalition unveiled its campaign platform on 14 June, which included overturning Macron's immigration policy and pension reforms, continuing military aid to Ukraine and sending peacekeepers to secure Ukraine's nuclear power plants.[12]
Marion Maréchal, a far-right candidate for Reconquête in the European election, met with her aunt Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, leaders of the RN, on 10 June, to discuss a potential far-right alliance during the legislative election.[13] After the meeting, Maréchal indicated that Bardella was opposed to an alliance with Reconquête as his party did not want to be affiliated with Reconquête party leader Éric Zemmour[14]; regardless, she announced her endorsement of the RN. On 12 June, Zemmour announced that he was expelling Maréchal from the party.[15] Bardella affirmed on 14 June that the RN and The Republicans would run joint candidates in 70 constituencies[16], though the latter disputed the amount.[17]
Marine Le Pen promised that the RN would form a "national unity government" should it win the election.[12] At the same time, Bardella said that he was "the only one capable of blocking Jean-Luc Mélenchon and blocking the far left" and urged "all the patriotic forces of the republic" to unite and prevent the left from winning the election. He also pledged to pass an immigration law allowing the deportation of "delinquents and Islamists" and cut energy costs as prime minister.[17]
The president of The Republicans, Éric Ciotti, spoke in favor of an alliance with the RN during an 11 June interview with the French channel TF1. Olivier Marleix, the head of the party in the National Assembly, called for Ciotti's resignation in response.[2] On 12 June, The Republicans' political committee voted unanimously to remove Ciotti as its president and expel him from the party. However, the latter rejected the decision, calling it "a flagrant violation of our statutes" that was illegal and void.[18] A Paris court reviewed the decision on 14 June, in which Ciotti was reinstated as party leader,[19] while constituency parties in the western suburbs of Paris announced an alliance with Renaissance in their seats.[17]
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal vowed to do everything to avoid "the worst" outcome, with aides quoting him as saying that the far right was "at the gates of power" in France.[20] Finance minister Bruno Le Maire also warned that that a victory by either the far-right or the left could cause a financial crisis.[17] On 12 June, Macron said that he had called the election to prevent a far-right victory in the 2027 presidential election. He criticised The Republicans for its potential alliance with the RN, as well as the New Popular Front, and urged all parties “able to say no to extremes” to unite.[21]
Electoral system[edit]
The 577 members of the National Assembly, known as deputies, are elected for five years by a two-round system in single-member constituencies. A candidate who receives an absolute majority of valid votes and a vote total greater than 25% of the registered electorate is elected in the first round. If no candidate reaches this threshold, a runoff election is held between the top two candidates plus any other candidate who received a vote total greater than 12.5% of registered voters. The candidate who receives the most votes in the second round is elected.[22]
Political parties and coalitions[edit]
Opinion polls[edit]
Graphical summary[edit]
Results[edit]
Results by constituency[edit]
See also[edit]
- Legislative elections in France
- List of deputies of the 17th National Assembly of France
- 2024 elections in the European Union
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "President Emmanuel Macron dissolves French National Assembly and calls snap election". Sky News. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ a b "France's Republicans leader wants to form 'alliance' with Le Pen's NR". Al Jazeera. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ Bernard, Mathias. "Parliamentary elections shock France's political order to its core". The Conversation. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ a b "French President Macron dissolves parliament, calls snap elections". euronews. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ Kennedy, Niamh; Edwards, Christian (9 June 2024). "Macron calls snap parliamentary election after crushing loss to far-right in European election poll". CNN. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ Henley, Jon (10 June 2024). "Three possible outcomes of Macron's shocking snap election". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ Jones, Sam; Henley, Jon; Rankin, Jennifer; O'Carroll, Lisa (10 June 2024). "French parties hold emergency talks with possible allies for snap election". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Macron dissolves the French parliament and calls a snap election after defeat in EU vote". Associated Press. 9 June 2024. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ "'Win together or lose separately?': French left calls for unity ahead of snap elections". France 24. 10 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "« L'union des gauches et des écologistes, maintenant ! » : l'appel de 350 personnalités du monde politique, intellectuel, militant et artistique". Le Monde (in French). 10 June 2024.
- ^ Garnier, Hugues (10 June 2024). "Programme, candidature unique... Les partis de gauche appellent à créer un "nouveau Front populaire"". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ a b "French left-wing alliance New Popular Front vows 'total break' with Macron policies". France 24. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ Goury-Laffont, Victor (10 June 2024). "France's conservatives and far right explore uniting to beat Macron". Politico. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ Goury-Laffont, Victor (11 June 2024). "French far-right alliance talks break down". Politico. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Far-right Reconquest founder Zemmour expels Maréchal from party". France 24. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
- ^ "French MEP Glucksmann joins left-wing union New Popular Front, vows clear stance on Gaza, Ukraine". France 24. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d "French left forms 'popular front' to fight far right". BBC. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ "France's rightwing Les Républicains vote out leader Éric Ciotti over election pact with far right". France 24. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Court suspends French right-wing leader Ciotti's expulsion from party". Le Monde. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ "French PM Attal vows to 'do everything' to 'avoid the worst' in snap elections". Le Monde. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- ^ "Macron says he called snap elections to prevent rise of far right in 2027 presidential vote". France 24. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
- ^ "Elections: France National Assembly 2017 (first round)". Election Guide. International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
