Explainer: How the French snap election runoff works and what comes next

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Marie-Caroline Le Pen, leader of the far right National Rally, casts her ballot in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, on June 30, 2024. (AFP
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Updated 01 July 2024
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Explainer: How the French snap election runoff works and what comes next

  • If the National Rally or another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority
  • In such a situation — called “cohabitation” in France — the government would implement policies that diverge from the president’s plan

PARIS: French voters face a decisive choice on July 7 in the runoff of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no majority emerging at all.
Projections by polling agencies suggest the far-right National Rally stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, but the outcome remains uncertain amid the complex voting system.

In Sunday’s first round, the National Rally arrived ahead with an estimated one-third of the votes. The New Popular Front coalition that includes center-left, greens and hard-left forces came out in second position, ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance.
Here’s a closer look:
How does it work?
The French system is complex and not proportionate to nationwide support for a party. Legislators are elected by district.
Over 60 candidates who won at least 50 percent of Sunday’s vote have been elected outright.

In addition, the top two contenders, alongside anyone else who won support from more than 12.5 percent of registered voters, are qualified for the second round.

In many districts, three people made it to the second round, though some tactics to block far-right candidates have already been announced: The left-wing coalition said it would withdraw its candidates in districts when they arrived in third position in order to support other politicians opposed to the far right. Macron’s centrist alliance also said some of its candidates would step down before the runoff to block the National Rally.
This makes the result of the second round uncertain, despite polls showing that the National Rally party has a good chance to win an absolute majority, that is at least 289 out of the 577 seats.

The National Assembly, the lower house, is the more powerful of France’s two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, dominated by conservatives.
Macron has a presidential mandate until 2027, and said he would not step down before the end of his term.
What’s cohabitation?
If the National Rally or another political force than his centrist alliance gets a majority, Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister belonging to that new majority.
In such a situation — called “cohabitation” in France — the government would implement policies that diverge from the president’s plan.

France’s modern Republic has experienced three cohabitations, the last one under conservative President Jacques Chirac, with Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, from 1997 to 2002.
The prime minister is accountable to the parliament, leads the government and introduces bills.
“In case of cohabitation, policies implemented are essentially those of the prime minister,” political historian Jean Garrigues said.




France’s President Emmanuel Macron leaves the polling booth prior to cast his vote at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on June 30, 2024. (POOL/AFP)

The president is weakened at home during cohabitation, but still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense because he is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, and is the one holding the nuclear codes.
“It’s possible for the president to prevent or temporarily suspend the implementation of a certain number of the prime minister’s projects, since he has the power to sign or not sign the government’s ordinances or decrees,” Garrigues added.
“Yet the prime minister has the power to submit these ordinances and decrees to a vote of the National Assembly, thus overriding the president’s reluctance,” he noted.
Who leads defense and foreign policies?
During previous cohabitations, defense and foreign policies were considered the informal “reserved field” of the president, who was usually able to find compromises with the prime minister to allow France to speak with one voice abroad.
Yet today, both the far-right and the leftist coalition’s views in these areas differ radically from Macron’s approach and would likely be a subject of tension during a potential cohabitation.
According to the Constitution, while “the president is the head of the military, it’s the prime minister who has the armed forces at his disposal,” Garrigues said.
“In the diplomatic field also, the president’s perimeter is considerably restricted,” Garrigues added.




Jordan Bardella, president of the French far-right National Rally party, reacts on stage after partial results in the first round of the early French parliamentary elections in Paris on June 30, 2024. (REUTERS)

Far-right leader Jordan Bardella, who could becomes prime minister if his party wins the majority of the seats, said he intends “to be a cohabitation prime minister who is respectful of the Constitution and of the President of the Republic’s role but uncompromising about the policies we will implement.”
Bardella said that if he were to become prime minister, he would oppose sending French troops to Ukraine — a possibility Macron has not ruled out. Bardella also said he would refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of striking targets within Russia itself.
What happens if there’s no majority?
The president can name a prime minister from the parliamentary group with the most seats at the National Assembly — this was the case of Macron’s own centrist alliance since 2022.
Yet the National Rally already said it would reject such an option, because it would mean a far-right government could soon be overthrown through a no-confidence vote if other political parties join together.
The president could try to build a broad coalition from the left to the right, an option that sounds unlikely, given the political divergences.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal hoped Sunday to be able to have enough centrist lawmakers to build “a majority of projects and ideas” with other “Republican forces,” which may include those from the center-left and the center-right.




French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal delivers a speech in the courtyard of the Prime Minister’s residence in Paris on June 30, 2024. (AP)

Experts say another complex option would be to appoint “a government of experts” unaffiliated with political parties but which would still need to be accepted by a majority at the National Assembly. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs rather than implementing major reforms.
If political talks take too long amid summer holidays and the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics in Paris, Garrigues said a “transition period” is not ruled out, during which Macron’s centrist government would “still be in charge of current affairs,” pending further decisions.
“Whatever the National Assembly looks like, it seems that the Constitution of the 5th Republic is flexible enough to survive these complex circumstances,” Melody Mock-Gruet, a public law expert teaching at Sciences Po Paris, said in a written note. “Institutions are more solid than they appear, even when faced with this experimental exercise.”
“Yet there remains another unknown in the equation: the population’s ability to accept the situation,” Mock-Gruet wrote.


United Nations overwhelmingly demands immediate Gaza ceasefire over US, Israel opposition

Updated 16 sec ago
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United Nations overwhelmingly demands immediate Gaza ceasefire over US, Israel opposition

  • Resolution drafted by Spain ‘strongly condemns any use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare’
  • Experts and human rights workers say hunger is widespread in Gaza

NEW YORK CITY: The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday overwhelmingly demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza and aid access, after the United States vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council last week.

The 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution that also demands the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, the return of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The text garnered 149 votes in favor, while 19 countries abstained and the US, Israel and 10 others voted against.

The resolution “strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access and depriving civilians ... of objects indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supply and access.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the General Assembly this was “blood libel.” He had urged countries not to take part in what he said was a “farce” that undermines hostage negotiations and fails to condemn Hamas.

“It must be acknowledged that by failing to condition a ceasefire on the release of the hostages, you told every terrorist organization that abducting civilians works,” he said.

General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry weight as a reflection of the global view on the war. Previous demands by the body for an end to the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas have been ignored. Unlike the UN Security Council, no country has a veto in the General Assembly.

TWO-STATE CONFERENCE
Libya’s UN Ambassador Taher El-Sonni told the General Assembly before the vote that for “those pressing the red button today to vote against this resolution (it) will become a blood stain on their fingers.”

The US last week vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that also demanded an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” and unhindered aid access in Gaza, arguing it would undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire.

The other 14 member states voted in favor of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where the UN warns famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month.

Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea told the General Assembly before the vote that the resolution “does nothing to free the hostages, improve the lives of civilians in Gaza, or bring us closer to a ceasefire, and is yet another performative action that erodes the credibility of this body.”

The vote came ahead of a UN conference next week that aims to reinvigorate an international push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. The US has urged countries not to attend.

In October 2023, the General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December 2023, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Then in December 2024, it demanded — with 158 votes in favor — an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire.

The war in Gaza has raged since 2023 after Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in Israel in an October 7 attack and took some 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies. Many of those killed or captured were civilians.

Israel responded with a military campaign that has killed over 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. They say civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks and that thousands more bodies have been lost under rubble.


Sweden accuses Israel of war crimes over Gaza aid blockade

Updated 12 June 2025
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Sweden accuses Israel of war crimes over Gaza aid blockade

  • Lifesaving humanitarian help must never be politicized or militarized, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard says

STOCKHOLM: Israel’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and its targeting of aid distribution points is causing civilians to starve, which constitutes a war crime, Sweden’s foreign minister said on Thursday.

In early June, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said deadly attacks on civilians around aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip constituted “a war crime,” while several rights groups, including Amnesty International, have accused Israel of genocide.
Israel has vehemently rejected that term.
“To use starvation of civilians as a method of war is a war crime. Lifesaving humanitarian help must never be politicized or militarized,” Maria Malmer Stenergard said at a press conference.
“There are strong indications right now that Israel is not living up to its commitments under international humanitarian law,” she said.
“It is crucial that food, water, and medicine swiftly reach the civilian population, many of whom are women and children living under wholly inhumane conditions,” she said.
Sweden announced in December 2024 that it was halting funding to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, after Israel banned the organization, accusing it of providing cover for Hamas militants.
Swedish International Development Minister Benjamin Dousa told Thursday’s press conference that Stockholm was now channeling aid through other UN organizations, and was “the fifth-biggest donor in the world ... (and) the second-largest donor in the EU to the humanitarian aid response in Gaza.”
The country’s humanitarian aid to Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023 currently amounts to more than 1 billion kronor ($105 million), while funding earmarked for Gaza for 2025 totals 800 million kronor, he said.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority said Internet and fixed-line communication services were down in Gaza following an attack on the territory’s last fiber optic cable.
“All Internet and fixed-line communication services in the Gaza Strip have been cut following the targeting of the last remaining main fiber optic line in Gaza,” the PA’s Telecommunications Ministry said in a statement, accusing Israel of attempting to cut Gaza off from the world.
“The southern and central Gaza Strip have now joined Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip in experiencing complete isolation for the second consecutive day,” the ministry said  in a statement.
It added that its maintenance and repair teams had been unable to safely access the sites where the fiber optic cable  was damaged.
“The Israeli occupation continues to prevent technical teams from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday,” it said, adding that Israeli authorities had prevented repairs to other telecommunication lines in Gaza “for weeks and months.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the communication lines were “directly targeted by occupation forces.”
It said the Internet outage was hindering its emergency services by impeding communication with first responder teams in the field.
“The emergency operations room is also struggling to coordinate with other organizations to respond to humanitarian cases.”
Maysa Monayer, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Communication Ministry, said that “mobile calls are still available with very limited capacity” in Gaza for the time being.
Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure across the Palestinian territory, including water mains, power lines and roads.


37 months in prison for ex-CIA analyst Asif Rahman who leaked docs on Israeli strike

Updated 12 June 2025
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37 months in prison for ex-CIA analyst Asif Rahman who leaked docs on Israeli strike

  • Rahman worked for CIA since 2016, held top secret security clearance
  • Rahman was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia in November last year

WASHINGTON: A former CIA analyst who leaked top secret US intelligence documents about Israeli military plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran was sentenced to 37 months in prison this week, the Justice Department said.

Asif Rahman, 34, who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency since 2016 and held a top secret security clearance, was arrested by the FBI in Cambodia in November last year.

In January, Rahman pleaded guilty at a federal courthouse in Virginia to two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.

He faced a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Iran unleashed a wave of close to 200 ballistic missiles on Israel on October 1 in retaliation for the killings of senior figures in the Tehran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups.

Israel responded with a wave of strikes on military targets in Iran in late October.

According to a court filing, on October 17 Rahman printed out two top secret documents “regarding a United States foreign ally and its planned kinetic actions against a foreign adversary.”

He photographed the documents and used a computer program to edit the images in “an attempt to conceal their source and delete his activity,” it said.

Rahman then transmitted the documents to “multiple individuals he knew were not entitled to receive them” before shredding them at work.

The documents, circulated on the Telegram app by an account called Middle East Spectator, described Israeli preparations for a possible strike on Iran but did not identify any actual targets.

According to The Washington Post, the documents, generated by the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, described aviation exercises and movements of munitions at an Israeli airfield.

The leak led Israeli officials to delay their retaliatory strike.


British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh named as sole survivor of Air India plane crash

Updated 6 min 30 sec ago
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British passenger Vishwash Kumar Ramesh named as sole survivor of Air India plane crash

  • Indian media widely reported the survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh had been sitting in seat 11A
  • BBC spoke to his cousin in the city of Leicester, Ajay Valgi, who reported that Ramesh had called his family to say he was “fine”

AHMEDABAD: The miracle report of a lone survivor from a London-bound passenger plane that crashed Thursday in the Indian city of Ahmedabad with 242 on board offered a glimmer of hope.

Indian rescue teams with sniffer dogs clawed through smoldering wreckage through the night searching for clues for what had caused the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner bound for London’s Gatwick Airport to explode in a blazing fireball soon after takeoff from the western city of Ahmedabad.

Bodies from Air India’s flight 171 were lifted out of the torn fuselage, as well as being pulled out of the charred buildings of the medical staff hostel that the airplane smashed into, killing several there too.

The death toll currently stands at 260, police said.

But hours after police said that there “appears to be no survivor in the crash,” officials reported the initially seemingly impossible account that one man had walked out alive.

“One survivor is confirmed,” Dhananjay Dwivedi, principal secretary of Gujarat state’s health department, told AFP.

The person was being treated in hospital, he added without further details.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the crash site and then the hospital, said he was “pained beyond words by the tragic plane crash” in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat state, where Shah is a lawmaker.

But he also told reporters he had heard the “good news of the survivor” and was speaking to them “after meeting him.”

Indian media widely reported the survivor had been sitting in seat 11A, after videos shared on social media showed a man — in a bloodied t-shirt and limping, but walking toward an ambulance.

He shared a boarding card that named him as Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a 40-year-old British national, one of 53 UK citizens on board.

AFP was not able to confirm the reports, but the BBC spoke to his cousin in the city of Leicester, Ajay Valgi, who reported that Ramesh had called his family to say he was “fine.”

Britain’s Press Association news agency also spoke to his brother, Nayan Kumar Ramesh, 27, also in Leicester.

“He said, I have no idea how I exited the plane,” his brother told PA.

But while Ramesh’s reported survival offered a chance of hope, stories also flooded in of heartbreaking loss: elderly parents going to visit children in Britain, or family returning home.

Air India is organizing relief flights — one from the capital New Delhi and another from financial hub Mumbai — to Ahmedabad for “the next of kin of passengers and Air India staff,” the information ministry said in a statement.

They will have to take part in the grim task of identifying the bodies, many of which were reported to have been badly burned.

The plane, which was full of fuel as it took off for a long-haul flight to London, exploded into a burst of orange flame, videos of the crash showed.

Dwivedi, the health official, said DNA collection facilities had been set up at BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad.

“DNA testing arrangements have been made,” he told reporters.

“Families and close relatives of the flight passengers, especially their parents and children, are requested to submit their samples at the location so that the victims can be identified at the earliest.”


Air India crash adds to Boeing’s recent troubles

Updated 12 June 2025
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Air India crash adds to Boeing’s recent troubles

  • Air India tragedy is first fatal crash since the Dreamliner went into service in 2009
  • Cause of accident still unknown but comes after series of setbacks for the manufacturer

The crash of a Boeing 787 passenger jet in India minutes after takeoff on Thursday is putting the spotlight back on a beleaguered manufacturer though it was not immediately clear why the plane crashed.
The Air India 787 went down in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad with more than 240 people aboard shortly after takeoff, authorities said. It was the first fatal crash since the plane, also known as the Dreamliner, went into service in 2009, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. Boeing shares fell more than 5 percent in pre-market trading.
The 787 was the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries, which are lighter, recharge faster and can hold more energy than other types of batteries. In 2013 the 787 fleet was temporarily grounded because of overheating of its lithium-ion batteries, which in some cases sparked fires.
737 Max
The Max version of Boeing’s best-selling 737 airplane has been the source of persistent troubles for Boeing after two of the jets crashed. The crashes, one in Indonesia in 2018 and another in Ethiopia in 2019, killed 346.
The problem stemmed from a sensor providing faulty readings that pushed the nose down, leaving pilots unable to regain control. After the second crash, Max jets were grounded worldwide until the company redesigned the system.
Last month, the Justice Department reached a deal to allow Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution for allegedly misleading US regulators about the Max before the two crashes.
Worries about the plane flared up again after a door plug blew off a Max operated by Alaska Airlines, leading regulators to cap Boeing’s production at 38 jets per month.
Financial woes
Boeing posted a loss of $11.8 billion in 2024, bringing its total losses since 2019 to more than $35 billion.
The company’s financial problems were compounded by a strike by machinists who assemble the airplanes plane at its factories in Renton and Everett, Washington, which halted production at those facilities and hampered Boeing’s delivery capability.
For the first three months of 2025, Boeing reported a narrower loss of $31 million compared with the previous year. CEO Kelly Ortberg said Boeing made progress on stabilizing operations during the quarter.
Orders and deliveries
The stepped-up government scrutiny and the workers’ strike resulted in Boeing’s aircraft deliveries sliding last year.
Boeing said it supplied 348 jetliners in 2024, which was a third fewer than the 528 that it reported for the previous year.
The company delivered less than half the number of commercial aircraft to customers than its main rival Airbus, which reported delivering 766 commercial jets in 2023.
Still, Boeing’s troubles haven’t turned off airline customers from buying its jets. Last month the company secured big orders from two Middle Eastern customers. The deals included a $96 billion order for 787 and 777X jets from Qatar, which it said was the biggest order for 787s and wide body jets in the company’s.