President Emmanuel Macron’s political bloc takes the lead in Sunday’s first round of French parliamentary elections. But the question is whether Ensemble, the alliance of parties that support Macron, will get enough votes to maintain an absolute majority in parliament.
To gain a majority in the Assemblée Nationale, Macron must win 289 of the 577 seats. But according to the exit polls, it looks like Ensemble will win between 260 and 310 seats. It is therefore not certain whether Macron will retain his absolute majority, which he needs to continue with the current cabinet. Otherwise, he will have to form a new coalition and appoint new ministers.
The new left-wing bloc NUPES could count on 150 to 220 seats on Sunday. The bloc of the right-wing Les Républicans and partners won 50 to 80 seats.
After Macron won the presidential election in April, he promised a new political era. But there is still criticism. Energy and food prices have soared, Macron would not crack down on Russian President Putin, and last month two women accused his new Solidarity Minister Damien Abad of rape.
France works with a district system. This means that each constituency in parliament is represented by one seat. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first round of the election, a second round is held. The two candidates with the most votes and all other candidates with more than 12.5 percent of the vote will advance to the second round on Sunday, June 19.
Voter turnout in the first round was low. It is estimated that 47.7 percent of eligible voters cast their votes.
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