Emmanuel Macron speaks to fellow voters as he arrives to vote at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on June 19. Photo: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition lost its absolute parliamentary majority, with results in Sunday's elections showing a strong outcome for the far-right and a coalition of left-wing parties.
Driving the news: While the left played a minimal role in the French presidential election earlier this year, in the past few weeks an alliance of five left-wing parties emerged as a major threat to Macron's majority in the National Assembly.
- Known by the acronym NUPES, the alliance is led by far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The big picture: Macron's centrist alliance garnered 245 seats in the National Assembly, per the Interior Ministry's final tally, down from 345.
- NUPES won 131 seats, while the center-right Republicans scored 61.
- Far-right leader Marine Le Pen's party scored 89 seats, a tenfold increase from the eight seats they won in 2017.
The bottom line: While Macron's party won the largest amount of seats, it is less than half of the 577-seat National Assembly, the lower and more powerful house of parliament.
- An absolute majority requires 289 seats, per Reuters. Without it, Macron will struggle to pass legislation to implement his agenda.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.