“The presidential party has been defeated,” declared Sunday Jean-Luc Melenchon (leader of France Insoumise et the union of left (Nupes),) urging his troops to “surge” in the second round legislative elections.
“The Nupes is first, it will present itself in more than 500 constituencies during the second round,” and “for only the first time in Fifth Republic a newly elected President fails to gather a majority for the legislative election that follows,” he said alongside other leaders from the union of left assembled in Paris.
He expressed his “emotion in regard to the result which was announced to us” but warned that “the projections at this hour have almost zero sense”. Julien Bayou (the boss of the environmentalist party EELV and member of the left alliance) commented that “it is this common banner that made it possible for the electorates to be brought together”.
“I feel like we have turned the tables, the left was supposed be dead, we have thwarted every prediction and we come first at this first round”, rejoicing the deputy LFI Clementine Autain, TF1.
The first estimates show that the united left (25 to 26.2%) was present in Sunday’s first round of legislative elections. They were neck-and-neck with President Macron’s camp (25% to 25.8%), who is not guaranteed to maintain an absolute majority in National Assembly against a background of record abstention.
