Macron to lose parliamentary majority in blow for "reform" plans
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France's President receives a blow to his hopes of introducing reforms in his second term.
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Projections by French firms show that Macron will be short on the 289 seats he needs for a majority (Reuters)
After hopes of introducing reforms that he was unsuccessful in pushing through in his first term, France's newly elected president had hopes that he would be able to introduce them during his second term.
However, his hopes were dashed after it became clear that his Ensemble coalition was unable to win a majority in parliament, according to projections.
Five French polling firms have projected that Macron's coalition will be able to garner 200-260 seats in the parliamentary elections, short of the 289 seats needed to secure a majority.
The left-wing coalition, NUPES, headed by Jean-Luc Melenchon, may win 149-200 seats according to projections. With only 60 seats in the outgoing parliament, this means that the coalition stands to triple its representation.
The far-right's Marine Le Pen was also expected to win big in these elections, going up from eight seats in the outgoing parliament to 60-102 seats, according to projections.
If Macron's alliance performs at the lower end of the projections, then there is the possibility of a hung parliament, which may lead to political paralysis in France, and the possibility of fresh elections to resolve the deadlock.
The most likely political actions to resolve the deadlock would be an alliance between Macron and other parties, likely the Republicans, which are a traditional party of the French right.
Melenchon had promised to break "30 years of neo-liberalism", and pledged minimum wage, public spending hikes, and nationalizations.
