President faces a messy scramble if he cannot achieve absolute majority in second round of elections
A new alliance of the French left is putting pressure on Emmanuel Macron’s grouping in the second round of the parliament election, as the president tries to hold on to his parliamentary majority.
Macron, who was re-elected president in April against Marine Le Pen, needs a majority for his grouping in the lower house of parliament in order to have a free hand for his proposals to raise the retirement age, cut taxes and make changes to the welfare system.Macron’s centrists and their allies, running under the banner of Ensemble , are still predicted to win the greatest share of seats in the 577-seat house. But to secure an absolute majority, they need 289 seats.
Inter radio. “Macron’s grouping has also lost 3.9m votes from his first-round score in the presidential election.”Several of Macron’s ministers are fighting close constituency battles against the left and will have to quit the government if they lose. They include Amélie de Montchalin, the environment minister, who is struggling in Essonne, just outside Paris.