Early elections in France: First round of voting begins
The first round of voting has begun in the early general elections called by French President Emmanuel Macron, who dissolved the National Assembly following the victory of the French far-right in the European Parliament (EP) elections held on June 9.
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In a country with a population of approximately 68 million 400 thousand, 49.5 million French voters are heading to the polls to determine the 577 deputies who will represent them in the National Assembly for the next 5 years.
Voting, which began at 08:00 local time in mainland France, will end at 18:00. In major cities such as Paris, voting will continue until 20:00.
In the first round of the election, where 4 thousand 9 candidates are competing, candidates who receive 12.5 percent or more of the vote will be able to participate in the second round to be held on July 7. To obtain an absolute majority in the Assembly, parties or alliances must reach 289 deputies.
Research companies will begin providing estimated results of the election as soon as the polls close, while official results are expected to be announced later.
The election race features the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen, which has formed an alliance with the leader of the center-right The Republicans (LR) party, Eric Ciotti, and some LR candidates; the New Popular Front alliance, formed by left-wing and environmentalist parties concerned about a far-right victory; and the "Together for the Republic" alliance, established by President Macron's Renaissance party with its governing partners, the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and Horizons.
FRANCE'S PATH TO EARLY ELECTIONS
The far-right RN, which has continued to increase its votes in the last 3 elections in France, most recently received 31.4 percent of the vote in the European Parliament (EP) elections on June 9, doubling the vote of its closest rival, Macron's Renaissance party.
Following the far-right's victory in the EP elections, Emmanuel Macron dissolved the Assembly on the night of June 9 and decided to hold early elections on June 30-July 7.
Macron defended this decision by saying, "We had to provide a democratic response to the EP election results." However, the fact that the country will go to early elections just before the 2024 Paris Olympics, which it will host from July 26 to August 11, was met with concern by the public on the grounds that it could create political instability and social unrest.
Left-wing parties, which could not form an alliance in the last general elections in the country, came together under the "New Popular Front" alliance in a short time against the far-right in these elections and announced that they would field a single candidate. The New Popular Front alliance includes leading left-wing parties in the country such as the Socialist Party (PS), La France Insoumise (LFI), the French Communist Party (PCF), and the environmentalist party The Greens (EELV).
The far-right RN formed an alliance with the leader of the center-right The Republicans (LR) party, Eric Ciotti, and some LR members, while the ruling Renaissance party and its partners, MoDem and Horizons, formed the "Together for the Republic" alliance.