PARIS — Last night, far-leftists rioted and attacked police following sweeping wins in the snap French elections that many say were rigged.
The electoral number breakdown is as follows:
- The left-wing New Popular Front won 182 seats.
- President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance won 163 seats.
- Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its allies, which took a commanding lead in the first round, came in third place, winning 143 seats.
In the words of CNN, "[Even though France avoided] a far-right government, the result means [the country] is plunged into political limbo, with no party reaching an absolute majority, leaving parliament gridlocked.
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally or Rassamblement National (RN), who garnered plenty of support in the first round of Parliamentary elections, believe that about the elections were rigged to favor the New Popular Front, otherwise known as the Nouveau Front Populaire or NFP.
Members of Le Pen's National Rally insist, similar to that of what has happened in the United States with Donald J. Trump's MAGA Republicans and in Brazil with Jair Bolsonaro's Liberal Party, that her far-rigjt party did not secure a majority in the France's national assembly due to premature rigging.
After all, Macron's losses in the first round of national assembly elections catalyzed the
A boisterous crowd gathered on the Place de la République to celebrate the victory of the New Popular Front.
FRANCE 🇫🇷 Last night, far-leftists rioted and attacked police following sweeping wins in the French elections that many say were rigged.
pic.twitter.com/BAFXNye6qv
— Toria Brooke (@realtoriabrooke) July 8, 2024
French journalist Luc Auffret wrote: "Tensions erupt on Place de la République in Paris. Police charge with the use of tear gas grenades following the burning of a barricade and the throwing of projectiles."
Des tensions éclatent sur la Place de la République à Paris.
— Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) July 7, 2024
Charge de la police avec utilisation de grenades lacrymogènes suite a l'incendie d'une barricade et des jets de projectiles.#ElectionsLegislatives2024 #legislatives2024 pic.twitter.com/HxjTXfb9Iy
While Marine Le Pen's right-wing party losses, a professor at HEC Paris, Armin Steinbach says, that "the gamble that French President Emmanuel Macron took when he called a snap election has not paid off," stating that "[He] failed to achieve the clarity on support for his government that he was looking for."