march following the kremlin's clampdown on journalists amid the invasion of ukraine. hello again appeared the headlines on al jazeera -- the leaders of israel's fragile coalition are dissolving parliament. the move will force the country to hold its fifth election in less than 3.5 years. lapid will take over from enough colin bennett until the election -- from naftali bennett until the election. >> i realized that in 10 days, with the expiration of the regulations, israel will

experience serious security damages and legal chaos. i couldn't allow that. we spared no efforts to galvanize what was needed to pass the regulations, but our efforts bore no fruit. therefore, my friend and i acted to dissolve parliament. >> russia has vowed to respond if lithuania does not lift a ban on the transit of some grads to kaliningrad on the baltic sea. the restrictions involve mainland russia and its enclave. lithuania says the measures will be on goods sanctioned by the eu that move across its territory. russia says ukraine has launched missile strikes on gas rigs in the black sea.

three people were injured, seven missing. if confirmed, it would be the first strike on offshore energy infrastructure since russia's invasion of ukraine in february. britain is facing its biggest rail strike for decades after talks between the union and trade companies failed. tens of thousands of employees will walk off the job for three days startin tuesday. emergency services are battling to deliver food and drinking water amid severe floods, and forecasts for more rain could mean that rivers will continue to rise. those are the headlines. up next, it is "inside story." bye. ♪ >> france's president suffers a

major setback. emmanuel macron's party loses control of the assembly, in the far left and far right make historic gains. how will he govern over the next five years? this is "inside story." ♪ >> hello, welcome. i'm adrian finighan. france's president is facing five years of political turmoil facing unprecedented results from the legislative election. emmanuel macron's polish and has lost its majority in the assembly. it's the first time that has happened to a presidents party in 20 years. the biggest winners were the far right and far left. less than half of eligible voters cast a ballot in the

second round on sunday. the national assembly speaker lost his seat, along with the ministers for health and environment. where did these seats go? the national simile chamber has 577 members. emmanuel macron needed 289 seats to keep the majority, and although the ensemble coalition remains the biggest party, it secured only 245 seats. a left-wing alliance, the new ecological and social union, it is said to be the main opposition group with 131 seats, and the biggest surprise, the far right leader marine le pen's party scored 89 seats, up from just 85 years ago. -- from just eight five years ago. the remaining 51 seats are held by other parties. the leaders of the far left and

far right say they are determined to complicate emmanuel macron's legislative agenda. >> it is an unexpected situation, absolutely unheard of, the collapse of the presidential party. we have achieved in the political objectives we set for ourselves in less than a month to bring down the one who, with such arrogance, twisted the arm of the whole country, who had been elected without knowing what for. >> i think that everyone considers that this is a victory for us. we are entering the assembly with a powerful group of mps. we are the first opposition party ahead of others, and we will be able to work as an opposition group. we will operate with full power cover with all the moves granted by the constitution to an opposition group. >> jonah hull reports from paris.

jonah: a dreadful election for emmanuel macron and his centrists in parliament who lost 100 of their seats and absolute majority. they will have to find new alliances on a case-by-case basis or with some formal hook up if they are to pass legislation, and the likelihood is they will talk to the traditional republicans who have 61 seats. macron needs 44 to hit the majority. there's no guarantee that will be successful, so there is the prospect of deadlocked government over the next five years with an economic crisis worsening in france. the centrists, hemmed in with marine le pen's success come of the success of the national rally party, and there is a question over participation.

three quarters of young voters between 18 and 24 did not take part in the election appeared they do not have faith and trust in their politicians to solve their problems, so the possibility is that the protests during his first term, during his second, others may choose to take to the streets. i am jonah hull for "inside story." ♪ adrian: let's bring in our guests. we are joined by political analysts. in london, a professor of french and european politics at university college london. from san 10 dare, a ceo of -- santander, a ceo. what do you make of these election results? was this election, as some newspapers have said, a "political earthquake"?

to what extent does this make france ungovernable? >> it is ungovernable for the current french president emmanuel macron. i believe it is a huge victory for the leftists and the far right party, marine le pen. they've lost more than 100 seats in the french parliament, so i believe it is a victory for the left. we've seen that the majority couldn't go underground to persuade for the french election. we've seen the huge defeat for the french president. there is also a lot of doubt about democracy. we had the yellow vest movement, the anger against the french president, who is very unpopular. i believe the abstention is an important point. a lot of people think about it

-- forget about it. abstentions are more than 52% who did not vote. we are in the same scenario that was 1988 with the former president when he had to consolidate his majority in the parliament, so we have a similar scenario. this changes the political map in the french parliament. i believe there are doubts about democracy, but also french people are fed up. the most challenge is to convince them that democracy is important. adrian: professor, to what extent will be about torturous negotiation, political compromise for the president and his party? will they be able to find some

consensus and parliamentary stability? guest: yes, indeed. hello. macron will have to learn to compromise, something he hasn't done much today. falling short of 44 seats in parliament is a lot, and he will need those votes in parliament whenever his party and government want to pass legislation, legislation that might prove controversial with other groups. there's only one way for macron now that he has a solid group to his left with nupes, which has increased a share of votes, is to turn to the right, the republicans, the party of nicholas sarkozy.

the party could coalesce alongside macron's on a number of issues. however, it is a position party. in fact, the stakes are very high. you'll have to compromise, but also to give to make some concessions with the right. it remains to be seen whether the right will want to be part of a coalition, even if it is not a formal one. republicans will think about what comes next. in five years time, macron will have to retire as president, so of course this party will think twice whether to commit itself to a party and president which are increasingly unpopular. adrian: what concessions will emmanuel macron have to make to ensure the support of the republicans in the assembly, and

will that mean that his government has to shift to the right? guest: i think the last point of your question, that has not proved a problem for them and crowed. -- four emmanuel macron. the main compromise he can make is appointing potentially a new prime minister who has enough credibility with the conservative right to be able to reach out and work with them. normally, what the election results tell us, this has been brewing for a while where you have to imagine a lot of french people, french voters felt they voted twice in the second round of the last two presidential elections for emmanuel macron by default. it was either macron or an

extremist like marine le pen, and there was this frustration that many french voters felt they finally could overcome in the legislative elections yesterday by being able to vote for a different candidate or preferred party. i think it is important. this is not an accident, but it reflects something that has been growing for the past five years or more. this is the result of the mainstream part d, the socialist party shrinking -- party, the socialist party shrinking, and emmanuel macron sitting as the center party. now you have two extremes. this is a rather unhealthy

landscape for democracy where you have to choose between a center or two extremes, and i think the next five years will tell us if he and his partners in government will manage to create something more than a center party but a coalition that is more attractive to french voters. adrian: i want to pick up on what you are saying and put this in question to all three of you. if you can give me a brief answers, i want to know whether you think, to what extent is president macron the architect of his own problems? we will put that to harm it first. guest: because of the far right, he's past bills.

he passed the islam a phobic law. -- islamaphobic law. these measures are popular, and that is why you have these consequences, a condemnation of his reforms. adrian: ok. guest: i agree with what your guests just said here. i think clearly that macron caved. when he was elected five years ago, he was a minister in a socialist led government. he came to the presidency with an aura of a young modernizer who could reconcile bits of the left and bits of the right, and that is out -- how he saw his political project.

he said, let's take the best of both worlds, and now five years down the line, he has lost his left wing. the former mps, those who used to vote for the centerleft party and socialist party until 2017, they were appealed by his political project and modernization, but it is clear on economic issues, but also on law and order, cultural issues, he can't be labeled centerleft. now he is clearly a man on the right. some put him very much to the right. others think he is center-right. it depends your take on that. nobody thinks of him as a centerleft leader. he can only turn to the right to

carry on and seeking majority. adrian: to what extent is this macron's own fault? guest: to go to the question of whether it is his fault is not the right way to put it. taking advantage of what so many other actors before, the fall of the traditional parties, especially the socialist party, and that is why he was elected as a centerleft leader, even though he governed on the right, and you saw that before with others. i think he was more of an actor than the creator of the collapse of these center-right, centerleft parties. however, his responsibility, the speaker was right that he has been using the conservative or hard right agenda or national

identity on law and order, which has normalized to the agenda, and now they have multiplied by 10. adrian: what does this election mean for jean-luc melenchon and his bloc, which is the biggest opposition force in france? guest: of course, it is a tremendous block for -- victory for jean-luc melenchon. he realized a huge coalition with the new ecological and social people's union party. of course, jean-luc melenchon will play a major role in the new coalition, which is called nupes, but i believe what is most important is republicans have been exposed because of emmanuel macron.

he did not give any instruction to vote for the leftists against the far right. we will not forget that when we have the presidential election. he is president because of the leftist voters that helped him to win the election, and i believe it is an important point. it's very dangerous for this president who normalized to the far right party in the french parliament, which i believe will be dangerous for the french society's stability. adrian: what do you make of the success of the national rally of marine le pen in this election? 88, 89 seats. what do you make of that? guest: the other guests said it

was tremendous success for the far left, nupes. i would beg to differ. i would say they made considerable gains, but it is not tremendous success, i think. although she got far less seats than the united left, let's remember the united left is four or five parties together, to put things in perspective, so it is maybe not such massive gains, whereas for her, she used to have eight mps in the previous parliament. now she's got 89. that's an achievement. that is a worry for all of those in french society who think the empowerment of the far right may not be good for france, the world in general. what it shows is that the far right, the national rally keeps making gains. for a long time, french

political commentators used to say there is a glass ceiling for the far right. they will be doing quite well in a presidential election because it is a nominal election. the le pens are well-known known to the public. llast time around, she came even closer to power, and emergent between her and macron wasn't that large anymore. the same applies with the legislative election where the party now couldn't have made gains in a two ballot system. now they are able to win 89 constituencies, and not just in the traditional areas of the southeast and northeast, but now in central france, the. knees region. it shows there is a nationalization of the far right vote. it is a party that may not be

seen by some french voters as an extreme party, and that is why i think everybody opposing the far right and the national rally have a lot to worry about. adrian: given that glass ceiling he was talking about appears to have been shattered, can marine le pen's party be described anymore as an extreme? has the overton window shifted? is it now mainstream? guest: they are still extreme in their views and agenda, but clearly, they are gaining roots in the french political system. this is a worry, especially with what may come after what macron mandated. to add to the previous point, i think the left wing coalition looks like the biggest winner,

but on the inside, this is a fragmented group. my prediction is they will have quite a lot of challenges staying together. each party from that group will try to form different groups inside the national assembly, and i think there are some tensions. i think you can bet on macron trying to steer the environment away from that coalition. i think they will fight more with each other. for macron, the danger is really coming from marine le pen and the rally national. adrian: i am just going to come back to you. i will be with you in a moment. with several high profiles in the president's party voted out,

the president himself unable to run at the end of this term, what is the future for ensemble! ? does it have a future without macron? guest: it is hard to tell what will be the future. the uncertainty is that macron macron will not run again and will retire from active politics in less than five years time. you might argue it is enough time for a young leader to emerge. the former prime minister route philippe, he belongs to another small party called the horizon. he might step in, or other people might step in, but for the time being, macron has a problem. it is a bit of an empty shell.

there are no real activists on the ground. guethere are no local barons. clearly, if you add to it the fact that three ministers lost the election, and macron warned that any minister losing the battle in their constituency will have to resign and leave the government, and the speaker of the house also lost his seat, so he will have to go -- this is a party where you don't even have in this current legislature any heavy weights. the few he had, he lost them yesterday. that is a difficult situation. yes, the future looks quite uncertain. adrian: we've spent the last 20 minutes talking about an extraordinary election, but we have to remember ultimately this

was on a voter turnout of 46%. what does that tell us about what french voters feel about french politics? why did more than half of the country's electorate stay away? guest: very good question. i think it is important today. there are a lot of crises in france. don't forget we have the yellow vest movement and the russia invasion, and as a result, inflation, and people do not see a change for themselves. they see the poverty and inequality, and they see there has not been the raise of a salary or minimum wage. that is why jean-luc melenchon wants to increase the minimum salary. i believe people are tired.

they do not believe in democracy. they believe in protesting in the streets. they are asking for social reform to fight the inequality and poverty. that is why the old french parliament do not represent the entire french people, and this is a dangerous step for the stability of the regime, the fifth republic is losing its architecture in our institution. adrian: sorry to cut you short. we are out of time. many thanks for being with us, gentlemen. thank you for watching. you can see the program any time by going to our website. you can join the conversation on twitter. from adrian finighan and the whole team indo hall, -- in do

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