On Sunday night, French president Emmanuel Macron’s coalition lost its majority in the National Assembly. The night belonged to far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party picked up 81 seats to reach a total of 89 seats in the 577-member body. This comes as a surprise given Le Pen’s poor showing in the presidential election this past April, when she lost to Macron by 17 points. While Macron’s coalition still won 244 seats, that number leaves them short of the 289 needed for a majority in the parliament. For the first time, National Rally has enough representation to pursue seats on committees, including those focused on foreign affairs and national defense. Moreover, Le Pen’s party can initiate a censure motion against Macron’s government, potentially leading to a vote of no confidence. Far-left parties also made significant gains in the election. The NUPES coalition party — a mix of socialists, communists, and greens — led by far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, won 131 seats. Macron will now likely face a gridlocked National Assembly for the rest of his five-year term.
The rise of the far-right and far-left parties in France suggests that France’s mainstream is on the decline, especially as Macron’s approval ratings are underwater — only 39 percent approve of the French president, while 59 percent disapprove of his job performance. In 2019, nationwide protests over a proposal to increase fuel taxes presented an unprecedented challenge to Macron’s government. The protests, which became famous for the yellow vests worn by protesters, highlighted the fact that many middle-class French believe Macron is an elitist who is more interested in serving business interests than the needs of the working class.
The rise of the far-Right in France is demonstrative of a growing backlash across Europe against a policy of mass immigration in recent years. France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, at 5.7 million as of 2016, which is 8.8 percent of the country’s population; many in this group are immigrants from Muslim countries that do not share Western values. In 2019, there were 132,614 asylum applications in France, up significantly from 42,600 in 2008. The following year, France accepted 436,100 refugees, a 6.91 percent increase from 2019. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees’ 2021 mid-year statistical report found that the top three countries of origin for French refugees are Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Syria, while the top country for asylum seekers is Afghanistan. The French are understandably worried about assimilation and integration of these immigrants and refugees into French society. Almost 45 percent of French people believe that Islam threatens French identity, according to a 2019 report. Just last year, the French senate passed an amendment that would ban Muslim girls below the age of 18 from wearing a hijab in public.
The French people have expressed a reasonable desire to protect their French identity and culture from being eroded by mass immigration. But giving more power to a far-right leader like Le Pen, through additional seats for her party, is not the solution to France’s problems. Given her bigger platform in the National Assembly, Le Pen will likely only acquire more power from here. This is not in the best interest of France or its people.