France will hold the first round of parliamentary elections on Sunday. Opinion polls suggest the far right could win the two-round legislative election that ends on July 7.
Here are some key facts about the election and its aftermath.
How does the vote work?
France has 49 million registered voters. Elections are held in 577 constituencies, one for each seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.
Candidates with an absolute majority in their constituency are elected in the first round. In most cases no candidate meets this criterion and a second round is held.
Candidates needed at least 12.5% of the votes of registered voters in the first round to qualify for the second round.
The top scorer wins the second round.
When will the results be declared?
The first round of voting ends at 8pm (1800 GMT) on Sunday, when pollsters will publish nationwide estimates based on partial vote counts. These are usually reliable. Official results start coming in at 8pm. Vote counting is usually fast and efficient, and the winners of all or almost all seats will be known by the end of the evening.
Who will run the government?
The President usually names the Prime Minister from the party that wins the most seats.
Opinion polls suggest that for the first time in France’s post-war history, the far right could win, with the left-wing Union seen as the second-largest grouping, and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition coming in third.
But this is not like any other election in France; campaign time is short, the electoral landscape is turbulent, and other scenarios cannot be ruled out.
These include a crippled assembly divided into three groups with none dominating it, or a coalition of mainstream parties that keeps the far right out of power.
A minimum of 289 seats is required for an absolute majority.
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) could run a minority government if it wins the most seats without reaching that threshold, but party leader Jordan Bardella, 28, said the party wanted an absolute majority otherwise it would not be able to implement reforms.
what happens next?
There have been three periods of “coexistence” in France’s post-war history where the political form of government has been different from the presidential one.
The government has most of the power on the domestic front, but the president heads the military and also has influence abroad. However, the division of power on foreign policy is unclear and could be an issue for France’s stance on the war in Ukraine or EU policy.
Macron will have to deal with the new parliament for at least a year, after which he could call another snap election.
Macron receives a second mandate in April 2022 and is president for three more years. Neither parliament nor the government can force his removal before then.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)