French citizens will head to the polls today following President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call early general elections.
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France’s 49.5 million voters will go to the polls on Sunday to elect 577 lawmakers who will serve in parliament for the next five years.
Follow key election developments on our live commentary page below.
Voting, which finished on Saturday in French overseas territories, began on the mainland at 9am Turkish time (6am GMT) on Sunday morning.
Euronews brings you all the last moments and latest news on the elections. The first national forecasts based on exit polls are due to be published at 20:00 CET (17:00 GMT).
For those who missed the agenda in France, here’s a quick recap.
Jordan Bardella (28), leader of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, called on President Macron to hold early elections just before the European Parliament elections.
Macron announced the decision to call early elections in a live broadcast from the Elysée Palace, an hour after the RN’s record-breaking victory in the European Parliament elections. When voting closed, the RN had received twice as many votes as Macron’s party, L’Onaissance, with 32 percent of the vote.
“We have heard the message and we will not leave it unanswered,” he told voters, adding that he “does not want to hand over the keys to power to the far right” in the 2027 presidential election. Macron stressed that he would not give up the presidency until the end of his term.
The election is expected to be held between three main coalitions: Marine Le Pen’s party, the National Rally (RN), on the right, and the centre-right Republicans (LR).
Fearing that far-right forces would take power, left-wing parties banded together under the umbrella of the New Popular Front (NPF).
The centrist ruling party, Law Renaissance, has established the “Together for the Republic” alliance with its two ruling partners, MoDem (Movement for Democracy) and Horizons.
According to the latest IFOP Fiducial opinion poll, the National Coalition party is expected to come in first with around 36 percent of the vote.
The survey put the New Popular Front (NPF) at around 28% of the vote, but said President Macron’s centre-right party, L’Onaissance, would get around 20%.
A majority in the 577-seat French parliament requires 289 seats, and opinion polls suggest the RN could win between 260 and 295 seats.
The outcome is seen as having a direct impact on European financial markets, Western aid to Ukraine and the nuclear deal, but many French people have criticised Macron for being “out of touch with the people” with his leadership and concerns about inflation and the economy.
During the election campaign, RN frequently expressed anti-immigration stances and publicly criticised Macron, including on the Chinese social media app TikTok.
The growing popularity of the far-right seems to stem from a sense of insecurity. If no party can win on its own in a three-way election, it will likely have difficulty forming a coalition government in parliament.
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RN leader Bardella gave a clear message to voters during a televised debate he attended.
“The public has the sense that the laws are not being enforced and that the state is weak against the strong and only strong against the weak,” Bardella said.
Participation in this historic election is expected to grow even more.
Our reporters bring you the latest news and results live.
Please look forward to future developments.
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