Anticipation reigns in France a day before the first round of legislative elections that will decide the fate of President Emmanuel Macron's absolute majority in the National Assembly (parliament), in the face of a left-wing coalition led by Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Approximately 48 French voters are entitled to vote to renew all seats in Parliament, i.e. 577 deputies in this ballot, which takes place in two sessions, the first on Sunday, and the second on the 19th of this month.
Voting will start from Saturday in several French overseas regions, especially Guadalupe and Martinique.
The results of the legislative elections are expected to appear on Sunday evening in these regions and in the rest of the French regions.
The election campaign, which drew little French, ended on Friday, and opinion polls published on Friday indicated that the "Together" coalition, which includes Macron and his centrist allies, faces strong competition from a coalition of left-wing parties led by Melenchon.
Opinion polls suggested an advance for Macron and his allies in the second round of the parliamentary elections, but without obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament, ie 289 seats.
As for expectations regarding the results of the vote in the second round, opinion polls suggested an advance for Macron and his allies, but without obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament, i.e. 289 seats.
On the other hand, Ipsos Sopra Steria expected that the voter abstention would be high, as the first round is likely to record an abstention rate ranging between 52% and 56%, while it was around 51.3% in the 2017 elections.
Two competing programmes
At the end of the election campaign, the French president called on his countrymen to give him a "clear and overwhelming majority" in the legislative elections.
Similar to the presidential elections held last April, Macron presented himself as a bulwark against "extremism", embodied in his eyes by the far left led by Melenchon, and the far right by Marine Le Pen, and Macron's government promised to increase pensions and implement additional measures to protect The purchasing power of the French like the adoption of some tax cuts.
On the other hand, Melenchon, 70, a veteran politician who came third in the presidential elections, proved to be Macron's opponent, ahead of Le Pen, the final candidate in the presidential elections.
Melenchon leads an unprecedented coalition that includes socialists, communists and the Greens, in addition to his "Rebellious France" party. Melenchon aspires to obtain a majority in the legislative elections, which will enable him to impose power-sharing with President Macron, so that he appoints him head of government.
The Melenchon Alliance proposes an economic program to inject 250 billion euros into the economy, including 125 billion in aid and subsidies, and the redistribution of wealth.