Snap election backfires on Macron
A surprising decision taken by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to dissolve parliament and hold elections three years early, appears to have backfired in a most disastrous fashion.
The first round results showed Macron’s coalition, Ensemble, going from a super majority after the 2017 elections down to third place with just 22% of votes.
The leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, came second with 29%, and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen and her allies took first place with 33%.
Macron's decision was a bit odd to say the least, he made a radical decision like he was merely playing poker and his bluff got called; he bet that France would not give power to the National Front and it was totally proven wrong.
But I'm also surprised at the results.
Member of Public 01
The turnout was 67%, the highest since 1986.
The final round of voting will take place on July 7 in which polls predict the National Rally will increase their share of the vote but probably fall just short of a majority.
That would mean a divided and squabbling parliament, a deeply discredited and politically weakened president, and the arrival in power of a party whose voters were often too embarrassed to publicly admit voting for them just 15 years ago.
It makes people afraid to see such extremists come to power.
The cultural and national fracture which France has been feeling in recent years is going to grow even more with a National Rally win, so there is a lot of fear about what will happen.
Member of Public 02
Experts warn that predicting second round votes is always difficult, and polls might be even more inaccurate in this unusual election.
Just seven years after his media fueled rise, many commentators are saying the vote confirms the political demise of Emmanuel Macron.
He has got a way of trying to impose certain policies that, maybe, his predecessors did not have.
He takes much more bold approaches and it's not always in the benefit of the country, I think, with some exceptions.
But what he's doing with Russia now, provoking a war and dragging the French into a conflict they shouldn't be involved in the first place, is one of the big reasons why the right is winning now.
Member of Public 03
In the few historical cases of divided government, the French president had been limited to the fields of foreign policy and defense.
However, both the National Rally and the leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, differ greatly from Macron in those areas, meaning his power may be reduced in those fields as well.
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