Macron Faces Tough Battle for Control of Parliament After First Round Vote

French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he walks with Touquet's mayor Daniel Fasquelle during the first round of French parliamentary elections, at a polling station in Le Touquet, France, on June 12, 2022. Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters

PARIS—President Emmanuel Macron faces a tough fight to win an absolute majority in parliament that would allow him to govern with a free hand after a strong showing by a new left-wing alliance in Sunday’s first-round election.

Initial estimates by Elabe put the left-wing veteran Jean-Luc Melenchon’s NUPES bloc neck-and-neck with Macron’s Ensemble! alliance in the first round, with 26.20 percent and 25.8 percent respectively.