The extreme right has a convincing lead in the first round of the parliamentary elections in France held today. President Emmanuel Macron's liberals are in third place, overtaken by the extreme left, according to several exit polls cited by AFP and Reuters, BTA reported.
The far-right "National Assembly" gets about 34 percent of the vote. Second is the far-left coalition "New People's Front". by 29 percent. Macron's liberal camp is in third place with a score between 20.4 and 23 percent.
The second round of parliamentary elections, called by the president after the far-right won the European Parliament elections in France earlier this month, will be held next Sunday, July 7.
According to some exit polls, the extreme right can even hope to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly, Reuters notes. They assign the party "National Assembly" and its allies between 230 and 310 seats in the 577-member lower house of the French parliament.
An absolute majority requires 289 MPs.