Macron's bid to keep the right out of power has just ignited the French government

French President Emmanuel Macron's government survived the country's election and fended off a right-wing surge on Sunday, but now faces fresh trouble from the left and months of potential political work.

Macron in a hurry assembled a coalition of different parties ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections to prevent the right-wing Rassemblement National party from seizing an absolute majority and essentially taking a large part of control over the French government. The plan only partially worked, as no party won enough seats to take a majority, creating a divided parliament made up of mostly left-wing parties that pose a threat to Macron's government. seconds to the American politician i The Washington Post.

“[Macron] he was able to keep the far right in first place, but they've increased their seat share and now he has to deal with this unruly left and unruly right,” Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Insight, he said CNBC News Monday. “In terms of his legacy, he's going to be in for a real political fight.”

The National rally It won 141 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly on Sunday, while Macron's liberal bloc won 145 seats, according to Politico EU. The New Popular Front won a total of 174 seats, winning the contest but falling short of the 289 seats needed for a majority.

This has led to a hung parliament and the possibility of months of political gridlock in France, which could disrupt markets and the already struggling French economy. seconds on CBS News.

“It's not possible to govern France if you don't have 240 to 250 lawmakers,” Sylvain Maillard, an MP from Macron's Renaissance party, told Politico EU. “I was president of the Renaissance group (Macron's party) with a coalition of 250 deputies and it was already very complicated.”

Macron faces another problem; his unlikely collaboration with the New Popular Front to defeat the national rally increased the National Assembly's share of left-wing parties, including the Socialist Party, the climate-focused Green Party and non-communist and non-communist parties of the extreme left, according to the Post. . Macron has described far-left parties as dangerous as the right, but forming an alliance may be necessary to create a majority in parliament and avoid political paralysis across the country.

The New Popular Front wants to dramatically increase government spending and has pledged to reverse some of Macron's economic policies, including his pension reforms, seconds in The Guardian. Breaking with Macron's immigration reformthe New Popular Front wants to increase immigration to France and ease asylum laws, despite the country already facing record levels of illegal immigration, seconds in the New York Times i French outlet Le Monde.

In foreign policy, members of the New Popular Front have demanded an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and full recognition of a Palestinian state, although there are some divisions among members over whether Israel has committed a “genocide” in Gaza, according to The Guardian i The Associated Press.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the Unbowed Party and a popular figure in the New Popular Front, called on Macron on Sunday to form an alliance so that a new government can be formed.

“The president must bow down and admit this defeat without trying to evade it,” Mélenchon said on Sunday, according to the Post. “No subterfuge, arrangement or combination would be acceptable” to prevent the New Popular Front from power, he said.

But Macron has particular problems with the Unbowed party, and his government previously flatly refused to work with Mélenchon because of his party's far-left policies, according to Politico EU and the Post. Macron has been highly critical of the anti-Israel statements of the Unbowed party and has accused the party of promoting hatred against the Jewish people. seconds in the Wall Street Journal.

A new government also means a new prime minister, France's second most powerful position, could be appointed; one would already have been selected if either party had won an absolute majority, but given the circumstances, it is unclear who is next. Current French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal handed in his resignation to Macron on Monday, but Macron rejected it and told him to stay in power to reassure the public that the French government is stable. seconds in The Guardian.

In short, the current chaos of French politics is the result of the actions of Macron himself; called the snap election last month after the national rally took first place in a round of European Union parliamentary elections in June. seconds in the Times.

Macron's gamble “didn't pay off,” Armin Steinbach, professor of EU law and economics at HEC Paris, told CNBC on Monday. “What [Macron] What he wanted to achieve was clarity, clarification about support for his government, and he failed in that.”

Latest messages from Jake Smith (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.