A vote with the heart, a vote with the head: How the French voting system curbed a far-right victory
(Image courtesy of Nadia Sorabji Stewart)
Just over a fortnight before the Olympic Opening Ceremony is set to take place along the River Seine in Paris, the French capital bore witness to celebrations of a different kind. On the 7th July, Place de la République and Place de Stalingrad, both accustomed to hosting protests from across the political spectrum, saw gatherings of leftist supporters celebrating the shock result of France’s legislative elections. Seemingly pressured by the success of the far-right Rassemblement National in the European Elections in June, Emmanuel Macron called National Assembly elections. This move was seen by many at the time as effectively handing over power of France’s legislative branch to the far-right spearheaded by Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen. This fear became all the more tangible when the RN won 33% of the popular vote in the first round. However, the success of the newly-formed left-wing coalition Nouveau Front populaire (and a bitter third place for the RN) is a resounding non to a parliament controlled by the far-right .
France’s political system is both presidential and parliamentary. The current Fifth Republic has certainly evolved from De Gaulle’s original view of a formidable executive power, meaning that the composition of the National Assembly and the role of the Prime Minister is of great importance to the presidency. The National Assembly is the main legislative body in France and has the most sway in domestic policy. Usually, the presidential and prime ministerial mandates are synchronised, which is helped by both roles having five-year terms. However, following the success of Nouveau Front populaire and the uncertainty of Gabriel Attal’s continuation as Prime Minister, France may now have a President and a Prime Minister from different political parties.
Following the legislative elections, the biggest party in the National Assembly is Nouveau Front populaire, a motley crew of an alliance between Mélenchon’s leftist La France Insoumise, France’s green party, communists and other left and centre-left parties. This coalition was scrambled together with one goal in mind: stop a Rassemblement National victory, and in this it was successful. Even France’s star football captain Kylian Mbappe even spoke out ahead of the second round urging voters to counter the far right and extremist parties. While his chance of Euros glory may have been snubbed by a sixteen-year-old Spaniard, his political hopes have become a reality.
The initial scare of the European elections and the first round of the legislative elections on the 30th June are typical of French politics. The RN received 31.5% of French votes in the European Parliament elections, surpassing estimates from the Ipos institute for France Télévisions, Radio France and others. And the first round of this summer’s legislatives indicated a RN victory and subsequently Bardella as Prime Minister. In the first round of the 2022 presidential election, just 4% separated Macron from Le Pen, but the second round afforded him a much more comfortable margin of victory of 17% . France’s two round system allows voters to first be guided by their emotions, personal beliefs, and of course, their heart. The second round allows for reflection. Is a far-right government really what we desire? The French public says no.
The role of Prime Minister is still yet to be decided. Macron has expressed his wish for Attal to reconsider his decision to resign, while Mélenchon insists that Macron should stop beating about the bush and must pick from the Nouveau Front populaire. Either way, one thing is clear. Bardella must bid his prime ministerial aspirations goodbye and accept the preeminence of what he has dubbed (in the manner of a not-so-gracious loser) the ‘alliances of dishonour’ in the National Assembly.