The polls project an abstention rate of over 50 percent and a technical tie in the first round between the alliance led by the ruling Republic on the March, and the left-wing bloc New Popular Ecologist and Social Union, which brings together La France Insumise and the Europe Ecology, The Greens, Communist and Socialist parties.
However, the polls point to an official victory in the second round, scheduled for June 19th, although without guaranteeing an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.
According to an Elabe poll published this Friday by BFM TV, Macron’s supporters would get between 280 and 320 seats, around the absolute majority (289), the left 165 to 190, the extreme right led by Marine Le Pen 25-50 and the conservatives 40-60.
Macron urged voters yesterday to provide him with a majority in the National Assembly that would allow him to promote the projects of his second term, and accused his main rivals on the left and right of representing extremes that are not convenient for the country or for the European Union.
For his part, the leader of La France Insumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, considers the election a new opportunity, after the presidential elections, to curb the government’s policies, which he denounced for their social impact and deterioration of the purchasing power of the population.
pgh/llp/mem/wmr