PARIS | Xinhua | French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced Sunday night to submit his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, following the defeat of Macron’s centrist coalition in the legislative elections.
“This evening, the political group that I represented in this campaign, has achieved three times more than the seats predicted in the past weeks, but does not have a majority,” Attal said in a televised speech.
“Being faithful to the republican tradition and in accordance with my principles, I will submit my resignation tomorrow morning to the President of the Republic,” he said.
The left-wing parties’ alliance, the New Popular Front (NFP) is set to win the 2nd round of France’s legislative elections, and is expected to hold between 175 and 205 seats in the National Assembly, according to projections published by research firm Elabe.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition comes in second with the possibility of getting 150 to 175 seats, while the far-right wing party and its allies would only obtain 115 to 150 seats, Elabe said in its projections.
No party would get the absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-member French National Assembly.
Speaking after the publication of several projections confirming the win of the NFP, Jean-Luc Melanchon, “saluted” the effort and mobilization of the French people who have voted in favor of the NFP.
“Our people have clearly avoided the worst solution for them,” he said, referring to the far-ring wing party, the National Rally.
“We achieved a result that we were told impossible,” said Melanchon, head of left-wing party La France Insoumise.
According to him, the result of the elections is “a huge relief” for most French people. “The will of the people must be strictly respected…The defeat of the President of the Republic and his coalition is clearly confirmed,” he told his supporters.
“The prime minister must resign. The president must call on the New Popular Front to govern,” he said. ■