French voters have put a damper on President Emmanuel Macron.

More than half of those entitled to vote did not go to the polls.

The historically low turnout of around 47 percent is a warning sign for the president, who once took office with promises of political renewal.

According to the first projections, Macron's government camp is on a par with the left-wing alliance NUPES from the Left Party LFI, Greens, Socialists and Communists, with a share of the vote of a good 25 percent nationwide.

However, since it is not the national result that counts, but the election in each of the 577 constituencies, Macron can still hope for a parliamentary majority for his government project.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Nevertheless, Macron can breathe a sigh of relief: According to projections, the left-wing alliance can achieve a maximum of 190 seats in parliament and thus falls short of the absolute majority of 289 seats.

There will most likely not be a cohabitation between a president and an opposition government majority, as was the case last time between 1997 and 2002.

In a first comment, the spokesman for the Left Alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said: "The presidential party is defeated, it is finished." Mélenchon said that forecasts about the distribution of seats are "an illusion".

For the first time since the election calendar was reversed, the President failed to position his party as the strongest force in the general elections.

Clear reminder to Macron

After a constitutional amendment in 2000, the presidential term was reduced from seven to five years.

Since then, the parliamentary elections have always taken place after the presidential elections.

Since 2002, the newly elected presidents have always managed to win a clear majority in subsequent parliamentary elections.

Mélenchon's alliance advertises a return to retirement at 60, a policy of disobedience to the EU and an exit from NATO.

The left-wing alliance has good prospects of overtaking the right-wing party Les Républicains (LR) as the strongest opposition party in the National Assembly.

The election result is a clear reminder from voters to the newly confirmed president.

Unlike five years ago, the governing Renaissance party (formerly La République en marche) will probably not be able to achieve an absolute majority on its own.

Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe with his Horizons party and former Justice Minister Francois Bayrou with the Modem party are likely to have a greater influence on government work because they will be needed to secure a majority.

But even for Macron's defeated challenger Marine Le Pen, the result is equivalent to a decline in the share of votes.

According to projections, the Rassemblement National received a good 18 percent of the votes.

Seven weeks ago, Le Pen received 41 percent of the vote in the second round.

According to projections, RN has a good chance of gaining faction strength (15 seats).

The right-wing extremist presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, who had applied for a seat in Cogolin on the Cote d'Azur, was eliminated in the first ballot.

The civil right LR has recovered from the poor performance in the presidential election with a good 13 percent of the vote nationwide.

With between 43 and 63 MPs in the next national assembly, the party could play an important role should Macron's camp fail to secure an absolute majority.