France voted on Sunday in the second round of legislative elections, with a new left-wing coalition seen as a threat to President Emmanuel Macron’s majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of the country’s parliament.
Voters thronged Newly Pleasant’s City Hall, shopping carts in tow. After voting, his next stop was the bakery and Sunday market where he finished his errands.
Gregory, an electrician from this eastern Paris suburb, cast his vote for France’s new leftist coalition, known as NUPES. He said that French President Emmanuel Macron is destroying everything that works for the country on social and environmental issues.
Pre-vote polls suggested Macron’s centrist coalition, Ensemble, or Together, would earn the largest share of the votes – but not necessarily a ruling majority. NUPES was hoping for a disappointing victory that would force Macron to choose its leader, the far-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as prime minister.
Michelle, another Newly Placement voter, said she believed the scenario would be a disaster. Certainly not NUPES, she said. If they win, France will be in trouble.
Retired Raymond offered a similar response. He said he doubted the viability of the programs pushed by the Left coalition. “Where’s the money to pay for them?” He asked.
Macron won a second term two months earlier against his right-wing rival Marine Le Pen. But the avoidance rate was high, and many French are overwhelmed by their president. Some criticized Macron for not campaigning enough for this crucial parliamentary vote, where his main rivals this time were far away.
These elections to the powerful National Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, will be crucial in determining whether Macron can advance the fiscal and retirement reforms that mark the agenda for his second term. The NUPES coalition has vowed to block them and implement strict environmental policies.
Like the presidential elections in April, these legislative elections have also been marked by high voter boycotts.
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