“The New Popular Front is ready to govern,” declares the victorious Mélenchon

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The early parliamentary elections in France, which ended on Sunday evening, were a veritable political roller coaster.

After a predicted victory for the French far right, left-wing activists emerged victorious on Sunday evening, beating their rivals for the largest share of the legislative vote.

The left-wing New Popular Front coalition, led by activist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is expected to win between 172 and 192 seats, according to an Ipsos poll conducted for France TV.

The far-right Ensemble party, led by outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, is expected to win 150 to 170 seats, compared to 132 to 152 for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally.

After the results were published, Mélenchon addressed an emotional crowd in Paris.

“With this vote, the majority has made a different choice for the country. The will of the people must now be strictly respected,” he said.

“The defeat of the President of the Republic and his coalition is clearly confirmed. The President must bow to this defeat and admit it without seeking to avoid it by any means whatsoever.”

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Mélenchon continued, has never managed to gather support in the National Assembly. “The prime minister must go,” he insisted.

Given Ensemble’s defeat, President Macron should find a replacement for Attal, who has only been in office since January.

This is a convention rather than a necessity, and Attal has already announced that he will leave office tomorrow.

“The New Popular Front is ready to govern,” Mélenchon declared.

He stressed that “as early as this summer” decrees could be issued to repeal Macron’s pension reform, raise the minimum wage and call for more wage negotiations, among other projects.

“We refuse to enter into negotiations with his party to make compromises, especially after having fought against his failures for seven years,” he declared within Ensemble.

Video Editor • Ines Trindade Pereira