France’s political future was up in the air Thursday with the far-right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a high-stakes parliamentary vote.
Depending on the result, President Emmanuel Macron could be left in a tense “cohabitation” with a prime minister from an opposing party, or with a chamber unable to produce a stable majority for at least a year to govern the EU’s second economy and top military power.
Surveys suggest voters will hand the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen over 35 percent in the first round on Sunday, with a left alliance trailing on up to 29 and Macron’s centrists in the dust at around 20 percent.
When he called the snap poll after a June 9 European election drubbing by the RN, Macron had hoped to present voters with a stark choice about whether to hand France to the far right.
Higher-than-usual turnout could also transform the vote.
Around two thirds of eligible voters plan to cast their ballots, which would be the highest level since 1997.
By Thursday, polling firm Harris Interactive Toluna was predicting 250 to 305 seats out of 577 for the RN — putting an absolute majority in its grasp — while Ifop-Fiducial suggested the party could top out at 260.