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The left-wing alliance of New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats in the French parliament in Sunday’s election runoff. The bloc gained 182 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest group but well short of the 289 required for an absolute majority.

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance won 163 seats and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party and its allies won 143 seats. The voter turnout in the elections stood at 66.63%.

Political analyst Suren Surenyants claims Macron managed to avoid a “political fiasco” in the elections.

"Macron avoided a political fiasco in a tactical move. Moreover, he "broke" the far-right which surged in France after the victory of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in the European Parliament elections,” he wrote on Facebook on Monday. “The political team of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella came in third in France’s second round of parliamentary elections.”

“At the same time, Macron did not solve his main problem, weakening his political backing in the National Assembly. Most importantly, he failed to handle the systemic crisis and did not offer solutions. He only "conserved" this crisis, at best until 2027, and perhaps only for a few months if the newly elected parliament does not reach a compromise to address it,” the expert added.