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Riots and violence erupted across France after the second round of parliamentary elections sprung major surprises. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party was stopped short of forming the government by the left-wing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition.
Video clips going viral on social media showed masked protesters storming the streets, igniting flares and causing disturbances as riot police attempted to neutralise them.
According to reports, thousands had gathered at the Place de la République in the capital city of Paris to celebrate the victory of the left-wing alliance when some demonstrators clashed with the police.
🚨 HAPPENING NOW. 🚨 France 🇫🇷
— Kosher🎗🧡 (@KosherCockney) July 7, 2024
The Far-Left are violently rioting.
When they lost the first round of elections last week, they resorted to public violence.
Now that they are winning.. they are resorting to public violence.
I’m pretty sure we know who the extremists are. pic.twitter.com/YD5GNVdaab
#Frenchelections. #france Sunday 230pm. Fearing violence and démonstrations after the results tonight, some banks in #Paris barricade themselves. pic.twitter.com/GGSjBfaIMn
— LAURENCE HAIM (@lauhaim) July 7, 2024
In the northern city of Lille, clashes were reported between far-left activists and police where the latter used tear gas, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, 25 people were arrested in Rennes, western France, after riot police deployed tear gas against a group of left-wing demonstrators chanting “Everyone hates the police”.
Anticipating there might be violence post the election results, the French government had pressed an additional 30,000 police force to ensure that neither the far-left nor the far-right succeeded in “creating disorder".
Notably, the final week of electioneering had also been marred by violence with several candidates, across party lines suffering physical attacks.
“This campaign is short, less than three weeks. However, we have counted 51 candidates, deputies, or campaigners who have been physically assaulted. I am not counting verbal aggressions here,” said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin over the weekend.
Fearing protests, shopfronts and banks were also boarded up and barricades set up as viral images on social media showed.
What happened in the election?
According to reports, the leftwing New Popular Front won 182 seats, followed by Macron's Together alliance with 163 seats while Le Pen finished with 143 seats in the bag.
Although the left-wing alliance emerged as the biggest winner, the number of seats were still more than 100 short of an absolute majority which stands at 289 in the 577-seat National Assembly.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was appointed by the president only seven months ago, said he would hand in his resignation on Monday morning.
Attal's fate now lies in the Macron's hands as a stable government is needed with only three weeks to go before the start of the Paris Olympics.
(With inputs from agencies