'Democratic shock': Macron loses absolute majority in Parliament

There is no set script in France for how things will now unfold as Macron and Ensemble will seek to find a way forward to avoid paralysis

French President Emmanuel Macron and his allies on Sunday lost their absolute majority in the National Assembly and with it control of the reform agenda, a crushing outcome for the newly re-elected president. For sure, Macron's centrist Ensemble! alliance were set to end up with the most seats in Sunday's election, followed by the left-wing Nupes bloc headed by the hard left veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon, initial projections showed.
 

But Macron and his allies would fall well short of the absolute majority they would need to control parliament, and ministers and close aides acknowledged that, saying they would now have to