News / France

French vote in elections as left seeks to end Macron's authority

Sunday, 12 June 2022 8:16 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 13 June 2022 7:24 AM ]

French left-wing senior MP, La France Insoumise (LFI) party leader, and head of the leftist coalition NUPES (Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale - New Ecologic and Social People's Union) Jean-Luc Melenchon gestures as he delivers a speech during a meeting as part of the campaign for French parliamentary elections, in Marseille, southern France, on June 10, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

French voters have headed to the polls in the first round of parliamentary elections with the newly-reorganized left seeking to win seats in a bid to thwart President Emmanuel Macron's plans for the country.

A win in the two-round election, this Sunday and next Sunday, by the left-wing alliance including Socialists, Communists and Greens, would be a disaster for Macron, plunging the French governing body into paralysis.

However, if Macron's alliance retains an overall majority of the parliament, he will be able to carry on governing, and the implementation of his reform plans will continue as before.

Macron, who has acknowledged the high stakes involved in the elections, warned the French nation against choosing "extremes" that would only add "crisis to crisis".

"If the presidential election is crucial, the legislative election is decisive," he insisted ahead of the elections on Thursday.

Macron won a second term in office in April vowing a transformative new era after a first mandate dominated by protests, the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine's pro-Russia regions.

French health workers hold major strike over staff crunch ahead of parliamentary vote

French health workers associated with nine major unions and organizations took part in nationwide protest rallies on Tuesday over the shortage of staff and resources.

Analysts, however, say voter turnout will determine the shape of the new parliament and it will become clear only after the second round, a week later, on June 19.

Young voters and members of low-income groups are among those likely to stay at home for the first round and if the left can mobilize them for round two, it would change the equations in parliament.

Energy and food prices are soaring in France, as inflation increases there and elsewhere in Europe and the United States following the global energy crisis triggered by the Ukraine conflict.

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