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Louise Thomas
Editor
Violent clashes erupted on the streets of France after a shock win for the country’s left-wing coalition blocked the far-right from taking power in the country’s snap general election.
Protesters could be seen launching flares, setting e-bikes on fire and clashing with police as thousands of officers were deployed across France.
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It comes after the left-wing New Popular Front won 182 seats, followed by president Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Together alliance on 168 and the far-right National Rally in third with 143 seats - in a bitter blow for Marine Le Pen’s party.
National Rally had held a commanding lead after the first round of voting late last month, but more than 200 candidates from the centre and left stepped down in seats to avoid splitting the vote against Le Pen candidates.
Following the results, prime minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer his resignation. But with no party within 100 seats of an absolute majority of 289, Mr Macron asked him to stay in the short term while France faces political deadlock.
Mr Macron took even his own allies by surprise in calling the snap election after RN made huge gains in European elections, gambling that French voters would block the far right.
The results mean Mr Macron is likely to be saddled with a parliament containing many hostile MPs for the final three years of his presidency, with the leader of the largest party in the New Popular Front, France Unbowed (LFI), declared immediately after the exit poll that Mr Macron should invite his coalition to form a government.
Describing the projections as an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country”, Jean-Luc Melenchon said: “The will of the people must be strictly respected... the defeat of the president and his coalition is clearly confirmed.”
But Mr Macron’s interior minister Gerald Darminin shot back that “no one can say they have won this legislative election, especially not Mr Melenchon”.
In a sombre speech after polls closed, Ms Le Pen’s protege Jordan Bardella – who had his sights set on becoming prime minister – denounced the political manoeuvring that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations.
“Tonight, by deliberately taking the responsibility to paralyse our institutions, Emmanuel Macron... is consequently depriving the French people of any responses to their daily problems for many months to come,” Mr Bardella said.
