Macron seeks parliamentary majority as left mounts challenge

Newly unified left could thwart French President’s ambitions of transformative era

PARIS • France voted in the first round of parliamentary elections yesterday, with President Emmanuel Macron hoping to win a majority backing for his reform plans while a resurgent and newly unified left seeks to thwart his ambitions.

Elections for the 577 seats in the Lower House National Assembly are a two-round process, with the shape of the new Parliament becoming clear only after the second round, which will be held next Sunday.

The ballots provide a crucial coda to April’s presidential election, when Mr Macron won a second term and pledged a transformative new era after a first mandate dominated by protests, the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine.

After a dismal performance in April, the French left has united in a coalition for what its leader JeanLuc Melenchon dubs “the third round” of the presidential elections.