France votes, with Macron's majority at risk

PARIS • Voting was under way in France yesterday, in a parliamentary election that could deprive newly re-elected centrist French President Emmanuel Macron of the absolute majority he needs to govern with a free hand.

Initial projections were expected at 8pm local time (2am Singapore time) from the election that could change the face of French politics.

Turnout by midday was a bit stronger - at 18.99 per cent - than at the same time during a first round of voting on June 12 and then in 2017, when it reached only 18.43 per cent and 17.75 per cent respectively.

Mr Macron, 44, won a second term in presidential elections in April.

If yesterday's vote does not give his camp an outright majority, it would open a period of uncertainty that could be resolved by a degree of power-sharing among parties unheard of in France over the past decades - or result in political paralysis and repeat parliamentary elections down the line.

Pollsters predict Mr Macron's camp will end up with the biggest number of seats, but say it is in no way guaranteed to reach the 289 threshold for an absolute majority.

Opinion polls also see the far right likely to score its biggest parliamentary success in decades, while a broad left-green alliance could become the largest opposition group and the conservatives find themselves as kingmakers.

In the town of Sevres just outside Paris, where light rain provided some relief after a major heatwave hit France on Saturday, some voters said they were motivated by environmental concerns to cast a ballot for the Nupes left-wing alliance.

"During the past five years, the presidential majority wasn't able to meet the challenges of climate change - the current heatwave makes you want to support environmental projects even more," Mr Leonard Doco, a 21-year-old film student, said.

Others said they did not trust the leader of the left-wing bloc, firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has campaigned under the slogan "Elect me prime minister" and who promises to cut the retirement age to 60 from 62, freeze prices and ban companies from firing workers if they pay dividends.

"Melenchon is a hypocrite. He makes promises that don't hold up. Retirement at age 60, that's impossible," said Ms Brigitte Desrez, 83, a retired dance teacher, who voted for Mr Macron's party.

Overnight, results of France's overseas departments brought bad news for Mr Macron, with his minister for maritime affairs losing in her Caribbean constituency.

Some 15 government ministers are running in this election and Mr Macron has said they will have to quit if they lose.

Mr Macron was also left disappointed by results the previous weekend, after a first round of voting saw his camp and Nupes finish neck and neck at around 26 per cent.

Surging inflation, lacklustre campaigning from newly named Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, and Mr Macron's abrasive personality were all seen as reasons for the under-performance.

The first-round vote served to whittle down candidates in most of the country's 577 constituencies.

Mr Macron is seeking to raise the retirement age and pursue his pro-business agenda and further European Union integration.

After electing a president, French voters have traditionally used the legislative polls that follow a few weeks later to hand him a comfortable parliamentary majority - with Mr Francois Mitterrand in 1988 a rare exception.

Mr Macron and his allies could still achieve that.

But the rejuvenated left is putting up a tough challenge, as inflation puts cost of living concerns at the forefront of many voters' minds.

If Mr Macron and his allies miss an absolute majority by just a few seats, they may be tempted to poach members of Parliament from the centre-right or conservatives, officials in those parties said.

If they miss it by a wider margin, they could either seek an alliance with the conservatives or run a minority government that will have to negotiate laws with other parties on a case-by-case basis.

Even if Mr Macron's camp does win an absolute majority, it is likely to be thanks to his former prime minister, Edouard Philippe, who will be demanding more of a say on what the government does.

However yesterday's vote goes, the president is likely to enter into a new period of having to strike more compromises, after five years of undisputed control since his first election in 2017.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE