Already almost half of the vote in April’s first round of the presidential election went to candidates opposed to open borders and the dictates of Brussels and Germany’s chancellor Merkel, Bloomberg noted.
The record abstention in this election was more than 10 percentage points below the previous record.
“Abstentionism is never good for democracy,” said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in his televised statement. “The government will consider it has an obligation to succeed. Now comes the time for action.”
Macron will have to tackle France’s notoriously difficult labor market reforms as well as closer European integration as he has promised.
Marine Le Pen of the National Front and far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon have both won seats for the first time, which would give the platform to attack Macron.
The low turnout of voters show that the country’s 39-year-old leader is the establishment’s only hope and if does not succeed, they might be in deep trouble. The previous Socialist majority has been wiped out, with the party retaining only 29 seats.
The second largest group in parliament will be now the center-right Republicans with 113 seats.