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FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron lost his majority in parliament today after the defection of seven more MPs from his ruling La Republique en Marche (Republic on the March, LREM) party.
They left to form a new grouping named Ecologie, Democratie, Solidarite (Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity) amid deepening disgruntlement over Mr Macron’s handling of the country’s economic crisis.
The new group says it plans to campaign for social and environmental justice, siding with neither the majority nor the opposition.
The grouping, the ninth in the French parliament, has 17 members drawn mainly from LREM.
MP Aurelien Tache said: “I am a leftist. To remain so I must leave LREM.”
Dissatisfaction with the government has been marked by weekly protests, sparked when Mr Macron attempted to raise fuel prices in late 2018.
The Yellow Vest movement has been met with a violent response by the authorities and thousands of protesters have suffered serious limb and eye injuries since the action began.
LREM now has 288 seats, one short of an absolute majority, but it continues to govern with support from the 46 MPs of the centrist Democratic Movement.