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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: FRANCE ELECTION WHAT’S NEXT
HEADLINE: France faces uncertain future after left surges in legislative runoff
TEASER: With no party capturing majority, country braces for gridlock
PUBLISHED AT: 7/8/24 AT 11:45PM
BYLINE: Lisa Bryant
DATELINE: Neuilly Plaisance, France
VIDEOGRAPHER: Agency, Lisa Bryant
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, DLJ
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, AFP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:31
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Talks to find a political way forward have started in France, following the stunning results of snap legislative elections Sunday that put the left, and not the far right, on top. The polls left the country with no clear political majority
or path to forming a government, just three weeks before the Paris Olympics. Lisa Bryant reports from the suburb of Neuilly-Plaisance, just outside the French capital.]]
((NARRATOR))
This was not the outcome most French had expected. Instead of a far-right victory, it was the leftist New Popular Front coalition that scooped up the most seats in the National Assembly a setback for the right wing, anti-immigrant National Rally. After surging ahead in the first round, the National Rally came third in the runoff behind President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition — which did better than expected, but still lost almost 100 seats and its relative majority in the lower house.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal keeps his job for now — while the president considers a path forward.
Many credit the left-wing’s results to a so-called “Republican Front” by mainstream parties, to keep the far right from winning.
[[FOR RADIO: Gesine Web is an analyst with the German Marshall Fund]]
((Gesine Weber, Analyst German Marshall Fund - FEMALE ENGLISH ((SKYPE))
“I think the most likely scenario right now is having the left block — le Nouveau Front Popular (New Popular Front)— and Ensemble, the parties supporting Macron, having a sort of coalition agreement or at least a sort of cooperation agreement.”
After tilting center-right, the French president and his alliance may now have to tilt left. Macron may have to govern with the political opposition — something he’s never done in his seven years in power.
Analysts like Weber say Macron will likely retain control of foreign policy, which supports Ukraine, the European Union, and the transatlantic alliance.
But a possible alliance with the left could halt or roll back Macron’s domestic agenda, including controversial retirement and other reforms.
France’s political divisions were reflected here in Neuilly-Plaisance, where Sunday’s vote pitted a far-left against a far-right candidate.
((Louise Ragu, Voter - FEMALE IN FRENCH - VOA ORIGINAL))
“I voted for the left. They have the values I believe in.”
((Radio version: Louise Ragu says she voted for the left. They have the values I believe in, she says.))
So did Yanina Kerkini. The daughter of Algerian immigrants, she’s worried about the far right’s appeal.
((Yanina Kerkini, Voter - FEMALE IN FRENCH - VOA ORIGINAL))
“People are saying more of what they really believe. We’re seeing it every day. They don’t remember history. It makes me sad.”
[[RADIO VERSION: She says people are saying more of what they really believe, and she says it’s obvious every day. Kerkini says people don’t remember history and she says that makes her sad.”
The National Rally is disappointed today, but it still won dozens of new legislative seats, and it remains a major force ahead of French presidential elections, just three years away.
((Lisa Bryant, VOA News, Neuilly-Plaisance, France))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJuly 8, 2024 11:41 EDT
BylineLisa Bryant
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
