French Finance and Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire spoke of a "democratic shock" after the presidential party lost its absolute majority.

And of a "disappointing result".

With 245 deputies, the presidential camp missed an absolute majority.

289 seats would have been required for this.

Michael Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

  • Follow I follow

On election night, Le Maire was particularly concerned about the good performance of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party.

According to projections, Marine Le Pen's party will have 89 MPs in the National Assembly.

It could even be that the extreme right, as the strongest opposition faction, can claim the chair of the budget committee.

Marine Le Pen was re-elected in her constituency in Hénin-Beaumont in northern France with a majority of 61.3 percent.

In 2017, Le Pen's party, with eight MEPs, still fell short of the group's size.

"We have achieved our goal: Emmanuel Macron is a minority president who cannot exercise power alone," Le Pen said on election night.

"We will embody a determined but constructive opposition."

The spokesman for the left-wing electoral alliance NUPES, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, spoke of a "debacle for the presidential party" that was "total".

"There is no majority.

The abstention was far too high,” he said.

The failure of the presidential majority cannot be denied;

the left electoral alliance with Greens, Socialists and Communists has achieved its goals.

It comes to 131 seats.

For the left-wing party La France insoumise (LFI), however, it is still unclear whether it will become the strongest opposition faction, said Mélenchon.

The 70-year-old spokesman announced he would "stay committed to my last breath".

Since he did not stand again in his constituency, he cannot become opposition leader.

He missed his goal of becoming prime minister.

The electoral alliance on the left does not provide for a common faction in the National Assembly.

The Greens, the Communists and the Socialists are therefore likely to form their own factions.

After the historically low result in the presidential election (4.78 percent), the right-wing party Les Républicains has successfully carried out damage limitation.

The hitherto strongest opposition force in parliament, together with allies, gained 74 seats, a heavy loss.

"We're pretty much alive for the dead," said former LR Justice Minister Rachida Dati.

Former party leader Jean-Francois Copé (LR) called for a “government pact” to be concluded with Macron’s presidential camp.

"Security, government spending, secularism, state reform, the republican right must save our country," Copé said.

After the presidential election disaster, it was up to the civil right to form a government coalition.

"It will be formed on our terms, otherwise it will not exist," Copé said.

The crisis is serious.

Of the 15 ministers who ran in the parliamentary elections, many suffered defeats.

A heavy blow for President Macron is the poor performance of his Environment Minister Amélie de Montchalin.

His Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon also lost in her constituency.

Both women must therefore resign from the government.

President Macron established this rule before the election.

Europe Minister Clément Beaune was able to assert himself in his Paris constituency.

The result for State Reform Minister Stanislas Guérini was still pending at the time of going to press.

The poor performance of the previous parliamentary group leader of the presidential party, Christophe Castaner, also represents a highly symbolic defeat. The former interior minister and Macron confidante was unable to achieve a majority in his constituency in southern France and was defeated by the left-wing alliance candidate.

The previous President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, was also punished by voters in Brittany.

Ferrand is considered a close confidante of Macron.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, on the other hand, managed a narrow victory in her constituency in Normandy.