Today marks a key day in France’s 2024 general election, as the vote has come to determine the fate of Emmanuel Macron’s government. Although pollsters predicted Marine Le Pen’s National Rally would win after the first round of voting on July 1, experts say it could be a political stalemate. Security has been tightened in the country as the Paris Olympics approach.
The euro, which had fallen after Macron's surprise announcement of early elections, rose sharply on Monday, Reuters reported. While Macron's defeat in France's parliamentary elections could spell bad news for the country's economy, investors fear a hung parliament could be much worse, investors told CNN.
A hung parliament is when no party or existing coalition has an absolute majority. France ranks 11th among all other European Union economies, accounting for about 17.2% of total GDP.
Here are the key points you need to know:
- French President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise early vote after being defeated by Mary Le Pen's Rassemblement National in the June 9 European Parliament election. Each party or alliance needs 289 seats to win a majority in the National Assembly, where Macron fell short.
2. Normally, national parliamentary elections are held immediately after presidential elections, but Macron's surprise marked a major change in 22 years.
3. Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National party led with 33.15%, the New Popular Front coalition with 27.99% and the Macaron's Ensemble alliance with 20.76%, CNN reported.
4. France, as a multi-party system, is going for a second round of voting today. Only candidates who receive at least 12.5 percent of the votes in the first round will qualify for the second round.
5. French voter turnout was the highest in four decades during the first round of voting on July 1, reaching 59.39%, French authorities reported. The guardIt is the highest number since the legislative vote in 1986.
6. France is all set to host the Olympic Games in Paris on July 26. With the days to the Olympics numbered and two surprise elections underway, security has been beefed up. According to the BBC, 30,000 police officers have now been deployed.
7. Reports say that Emmanuel Macron's allies are not happy with him. According to a Renaissance party official, he was told to stop campaigning. Macron was also unaware that the French public “repelled his personality”, the Politics.
8. Macron first came to power in 2017 promising to create a centrist bloc
9. Rating agency S&P Global downgraded the French government's rating in its May 2024 report, citing the decline in the fiscal position. It went from 'AA' to 'AA-'
10. In 2023, France's budget deficit amounted to 5.5% of GDP.
