IT'S unlikely to be smooth sailing for French President, Emmanuel Macron, for the next five years after he lost his presidential majority following the legislative election outcome in the European Union nation.
The French Legislative elections, with the first round on June 12 and a second-round on June 19 saw voters electing 577 National Assembly members, the 16th such poll under the Fifth French Republic and it proved to be a watershed moment for both left and right-wing parties.
Macron's centrist Ensemble Citoyen (Citizens United) coalition faced off with left-wing Nouvelle Union Populaire écologique et Sociale (New People's Ecologic and Social Union or NUPES) and far-right parties, the most prominent being Marine Le Pen's National Rally Party.
Ensemble Citoyen comprises 14 national and regional broad-based centre to centre-right, left, Green parties such as Macron's Renaissance (formerly La République En Marche), Agir, Radical party and En Commun.
NUPES comprises 19 national and regional broad-based left, socialists, Green and pro-European parties such as the French Communist Party, Socialist Party, The Greens, Ecology Generation and The New Democrats.
The historic election outcome saw both the left and right-wing alliances increase their seat tally at the expense of Macron's centre-based party and his allies.
Macron's Ensemble Citoyen and allies secured 245 seats but fell short of the 289-seat threshold for an absolute presidential majority in the French lower house.
The NUPES coalition led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon came in second by securing 131 seats.
At the opposite end of the political spectrum, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally Party (RN) caused a surprise by securing a record 89 seats, placing it in third place. RN's previous record was 35 deputies in 1986. After that, it was zero in 2002 and 2007, 2 in 2012 and 8 in 2017.
The other seats in the National Assembly were divided among the centre-right Republican — UDI (64), other left parties (22) and other political parties carrying 26 seats.
The polls outcome sees the new National Assembly fragmented, made up of four unequal blocs, with the presidential coalition with a relative majority requiring allies to get a presidential majority.
The conversation.com said governments led by Michel Rocard (1988-1991), Edith Cresson (1991-1992) and Pierre Beregovoy (1992-1993) had to build majorities to pass each piece of legislation, sometimes with the Communists, sometimes with the centrists and non-affiliated members.
It adds that Macron's coalition could also break deadlocks by resorting to Article 49-3 of the French Constitution, which allows the government to pass legislation without a parliamentary vote.
"Doing so is not without risk, as right- and left-wing oppositions can join up and call for a no-confidence vote," said the network of not-for-profit media outlets publishing news stories and research reports.
In the 2017 French legislative election, Macron's party and its allies carried the presidential majority by winning 346 seats, with the opposition parties garnering 221 seats.
Among the ministers to lose their seats following the resurgence from the left and right in the polls were Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon, Green Transition Minister, Amélie de Montchalin and Macron's closest ally, the president of the Assembly, Richard Ferrand.
The new members of Parliament elected include a hotel chambermaid who led her colleagues in a fight for better pay and conditions and represented NUPES — Rachel Keke who won by defeating former Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu.
France 24 said the nation is in for "a lot more fireworks to come" after President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance lost its absolute majority in parliament in Sunday's elections.
Quoting Chichester University's Andrew Smith, the state-owned international news television network, said the French parliament could be a lame-duck if Macron "takes a hostile attitude" towards it.
He adds the immediate challenge for the president is to see if he can form some sort of a working majority with the conservative Republican — UDI, who are now kingmakers, or whether the latter "will hold out and remain a party of opposition".
The legislative election result comes at the heel of the April 2022 French presidential election, which saw Macron keeping the top post for a second consecutive and final term.
The Presidential April 10 first-round and second-round April 24 polls saw Macron defeat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen for a second time.
The Guardian quoting analysts said the 44-year-old president must take much of the blame, accusing him of throwing away a solid projected parliamentary lead after his re-election in April with an all but non-existent campaign in which he seemed to rely on the tradition of French voters usually giving newly elected presidents a majority.
"Rapidly rising inflation and cost-of-living concerns also revived popular resentment of Macron and his style, widely perceived as arrogant, top-down and "president-of-the-rich".
"Macron, used to ramming his pro-business reforms through parliament with little regard for opposition views, will have to learn the art of political consensus-building; he faces weeks of negotiations and may yet fail to form a functioning majority," said the 200-year-old British daily.
Besides facing domestic political tribulation now from both the left and right, Macron's plate in his second term is already filling up fast.
This includes the need to resolve the cost-of-living crisis as year-on-year inflation surpassed 4 per cent in March.
In addition, there was also the promised reform in 2019 involving the French pension system which took a back seat because of Covid-19.
He also faces a need to reform the under-pressure national health system, climate change and the war in Ukraine.
The writer is NST news editor
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times