Less than two months after he was re-elected president, Emmanuel Macron is on the verge of losing his parliamentary majority, following a strong performance by rival parties.
According to initial projections, the center-right Ensemble coalition is well on its way to winning the parliamentary elections held this Sunday, but will lose dozens of seats in parliament and Macron will have to fight to push forward reforms.
Projections predict that the alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon has secured second place, but also Marine Le Pen's far-right party is reported to have performed well.
Macron had more than 300 seats in parliament and convincingly defeated Le Pen's party in the presidential election, which was held in April. To maintain his full majority, he needed 289 seats, but Sunday forecast is around 210 to 250 seats, which is worse than expected.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's left-wing alliance, dubbed the Nupes, will win 150 to 180 seats.