French Election: Macron loses control of National Assembly in 'democratic shock'

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

French President Emmanuel Macron suffered a major setback after he lost control of the National Assembly in legislative elections on Sunday. His defeat threatens the country’s political stability.

Macron group won 245 seats out of 577, losing the absolute majority but managed to keep the largest bloc.

Initial projections by pollsters Ifop, OpinionWay, Elabe and Ipsos showed Macron's Ensemble alliance winning 230-250 seats, the left-wing Nupes alliance securing 141-175 and Les Republicains 60-75.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire called the outcome a "democratic shock" and added that if other blocs did not cooperate, "this would block our capacity to reform and protect the French."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, “the result is a risk for our country in view of the challenges we have to face," adding that from Monday on, Macron's camp will work to seek alliances.

Market reaction

Amid looming recession fears, the French election disappointment also keeps the euro under check. At the time of writing, EUR/USD is trading around 1.0500, almost unchanged on the day.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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