Due to the time difference, voting will take place on Saturday in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The presidential camp is in danger of facing a massive defeat.
The first round of preliminary parliamentary elections in France has officially begun. Polls opened on Saturday afternoon (8 a.m. local time) in the small French island group of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off Canada’s east coast, local public broadcaster 1ère Saint-Pierre et Miquelon reported. A majority of French people can vote on Sunday. Due to the time difference overseas voting will be held on Saturday.
After the defeat of centrist forces and the landslide victory of right-wing nationalists led by Marine Le Pen in European elections, French President Emmanuel Macron surprisingly dissolved the National Assembly and announced new elections for this Sunday and July 7. Le Pen’s Rassemblement National has a clear lead in the polls. The new left-wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire came in second. Opinion polls put Macron’s centrist camp in only third place. It is still unclear what the parliament will look like after two rounds of elections.
The final election will be held on July 7
The 577 members of the National Assembly are elected using majority vote. Only the person who gets the most votes from each constituency enters the parliament. Because an absolute majority of votes is required, very few people are elected in the first round. In most constituencies, the decisive factor is the run-off election a week later. Nevertheless, analysts believe that right-wing nationalists could become a strong force in the National Assembly. Whether an absolute majority of 289 seats can be secured is not clear. Macron, who recently held a relative majority in parliament, could lose a significant number of seats. The president has repeatedly insisted he wants to use the vote to expand his majority.
The National Assembly is one of the two French parliamentary chambers. It is involved in legislation and can topple the government through a vote of no confidence. The second chamber of Parliament is the Senate. It is currently conservative. (APA/dpa)
