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French elections: Second round turnout at highest in four decades [1]

['Le Monde With Afp']

Date: 2024-07-07

A person casts a ballot in the second round of the snap French parliamentary elections, in Vanves near Paris, on July 7, 2024. GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE / REUTERS

63% of French voters turned out to vote for the second round of the country's snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, July 7, slightly less than for the first round (65%). It is the highest turnout since 1981. These figures confirm intense interest in the vote.

President Emmanuel Macron called the snap elections three years ahead of time after his forces were trounced in June's European parliament vote, a gamble which seems to have backfired. The left won 182 seats, ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's coalition (168 seats) and the far-right Rassemblement National and its allies (143 seats), according to final results.

These results mean France will have a hung parliament, with three major blocs but no clear majority. That leaves Macron in a position to negotiate with parties that have long been in opposition to him to try to form a coalition government.

A hung parliament with a large eurosceptic, anti-immigration contingent could weaken France's international standing and threaten Western unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. European Union officials, already learning to deal with far-right parties in power in Italy and the Netherlands, are watching France closely. And in Rome, Pope Francis chose the day of the French vote to warn against "ideological temptations and populists", adding: "Democracy is not in good health in the world today."

With the country on tenterhooks, last week saw more than 200 tactical-voting pacts between center and left-wing candidates in seats to attempt to prevent the RN from winning an absolute majority. This has been hailed as a return of the anti-far right "republican front" first summoned when Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, faced Jacques Chirac in the run-off of 2002 presidential elections.

Read more Subscribers only French elections: The last seat estimates before Sunday's second round

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[1] Url: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/07/07/french-elections-second-round-turnout-at-5-pm-reaches-59-71_6676962_7.html

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