France to vote in crucial National Assembly election

Paris: French electors will vote on Sunday to elect members of the country’s National Assembly with President Emmanuel Macron facing a tough challenge from the Far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, BBC reported.
Macron, who had once again won the presidential election just a few weeks ago convincingly is facing his toughest political battle yet in this crunch election that could see him struggling to push through his reforms.
Macron beat his far-right opponent Marie Le Pen in April, but in the parliamentary election he is up against an alliance of left and green parties that finished neck to neck with him just a week ago in the first round of elections.
The left-green alliance calls themselves Nupes, which stands for New Ecological and Social Popular Union, and the polls suggest they could stop Macron from winning the 289 seats he needs for an outright majority. The centrist Macron alliance, Ensemble, portrays them as a “marriage of convenience” of Communists, Socialists, far-left Mélenchonists and Greens.
If Macron fails to win an outright majority, he will need the support of other parties to push through his big-ticket reforms, such as raising the retirement age, cutting taxes and reforming benefits. Pollsters suggest Ensemble will win 255-305 seats and Nupes 140-200.
The Nupes have galvanized voters with a promise of fighting spiraling prices, bring down the retirement age and tackle climate change and have the support of several green leaders and many green voters, who have accused President Macron of doing little in the past five years.
Sunday’s second round is almost entirely made up of run-off duels between the two candidates, and almost half involve the two big alliances. Several ministers in the Macron government are battling to keep their seats and hold on to their jobs, and two of the toughest fights involve Europe Minister Clément Beaune and Green Transition Minister Amélie de Montchalin. (UNI)

#France Elections