Second round of early elections in France: Voting has begun

Voting, which began at 08:00 local time in mainland France, will end at 18:00. In major cities such as Paris and Marseille, voting will continue until 20:00.

In a country with a population of approximately 68 million 400 thousand, 49.5 million French voters are heading to the polls in the second round to determine the 501 deputies who will represent them in the National Assembly for the next 5 years. The other 76 deputies who will serve in the Assembly were elected in the first round.

In the second round of the election, where 1094 candidates are competing, the candidates who receive the most votes are elected as deputies.

Parties or alliances need to reach 289 seats to secure an absolute majority in the 577-seat Assembly.

3 ALLIANCES STAND OUT IN THE ELECTION

The election race is dominated by the far-right National Rally (RN), led by Jordan Bardella, which formed an alliance with Republican (LR) Party leader 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, formed by President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance with its ruling partners, the Democratic Movement (MoDem) and Horizons.

Research companies are expected to begin providing estimated election results as soon as the polls close, with official results to be announced later by the Ministry of the Interior.

According to official data, the number of French citizens living abroad who voted online for the 2nd round was recorded as 460 thousand. Additionally, voting took place yesterday in regions known as the country's overseas territories, such as Guadeloupe, French Guiana, and Martinique.

PARLIAMENT WILL OPEN ITS DOORS TO NEW DEPUTIES TOMORROW

The Assembly will open its doors at 14:00 local time tomorrow to welcome the new deputies.

The 577 new members of the National Assembly will gather for the first General Assembly session on July 18 and will begin voting to elect their new Assembly president starting at 15:00 local time.

The new deputies will be required to form their groups in the Assembly before 18:00 local time on the same day.

To form a political group in the French Assembly, at least 15 deputies must come together and designate their group leaders.

THE PROCESS LEADING TO EARLY ELECTIONS IN FRANCE

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, President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party.

Following the far-right's victory in the EP elections, 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," but the fact that the country would 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 the Socialist Party (PS), France Unbowed (LFI), the French Communist Party (PCF), and the environmentalist party The Greens (EELV), which are among the country's leading left-wing parties.

The far-right RN formed an alliance with Republican (LR) Party leader Eric Ciotti and some LR members, while the ruling party Renaissance and its partners MoDem and Horizons formed the "Together for the Republic" Alliance.

In the first round of the election, the far-right alliance came out on top with around 33 percent of the vote, the New Popular Front Alliance came in second with 28 percent, and Macron's "Together for the Republic" alliance placed third with 20 percent of the vote.

While 76 deputies were elected in the first round of the election, 39 of them were from the far-right, 32 from the left-wing alliance, 2 from Macron's alliance, and the remaining 3 were candidates from the center-right Republicans and other right-wing parties.

News Source: AA