Mélenchon hails projected results as leftists set to win most seats in France election

(7 Jul 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
AP VIA AGENCY POOL (REUTERS)
Paris, France - 7 July 2024
1. Supporters cheering
2. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Luc Melenchon, far-left La France Insoumise - LFI - (France Unbowed) founder:
“At the end of an electoral campaign that was too tightly constrained by time, our people have voted, voted with their conscience. I salute the efforts and mobilization of the thousands of men and women who have worked tirelessly to achieve the result that has been achieved this evening. I salute those who have agreed to stand as candidates. Those who agreed to withdraw their candidacy, those who were mobilized, door to door, face to face, convincing people everywhere and, in the end, winning a result we were told was impossible. A magnificent surge of civic mobilization has taken hold, and you all know how remarkable that is, as we're already into summer and the vacation season. Our people have clearly rejected the worst-case scenario. Tonight, the Rassemblement National (National Rally party) is far from having the absolute majority that commentators were predicting.”
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2. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Luc Melenchon, far-left La France Insoumise - LFI - (France Unbowed) founder:
“A majority has made a different choice for the country. From now on, the will of the people must be strictly respected. From now on, no subterfuge, arrangement or combination will be acceptable. The lessons of the vote are irrefutable. The defeat of the President of the Republic and his coalition is clearly confirmed”.
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3. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Luc Melenchon, far-left La France Insoumise - LFI - (France Unbowed) founder:
“The President has the power, the President has the duty to call on the new Popular Front to govern." (crowd cheering)
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4. SOUNDBITE (French) Jean-Luc Melenchon, far-left La France Insoumise - LFI - (France Unbowed) founder:
“We said it already last and we reiterate this to the President of the Republic: we refuse to enter into negotiations with his party to make wheelings and dealings, especially after having fought relentlessly for seven years against his policies of social abuse and ecological inaction, the votes of the French people have just confirmed this, especially after the ballot box made them largely disavow. Especially after the new Front Populaire (the New Popular Front), despite all the blows received, all the defamation, all the insults, have conquered the eminent place the people gave them."
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5. Supporters cheering
STORYLINE:
Polls have closed in France, and surprise polling projections say a coalition on the left that came together to try to keep the far right from power has won the most parliamentary seats in the runoff elections after a high turnout among voters.
The projections based on the actual vote count in select constituencies put President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in second and the far right in third. There is a lack of majority for any single alliance. Weeks of discussions are ahead.
Final results are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday in the snap election that was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for the deeply unpopular Macron. The far-right National Rally drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations.
The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation have potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability. They’re almost certain to undercut Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency.
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