Most polls show that National Rally is on course to win the largest number of seats in the National Assembly, parliament’s lower house, although it remains unclear if the party will secure an outright majority.
A high turnout is predicted and final opinion polls have given the RN between 35 to 37 per cent of the vote, against 27.5 to 29 per cent for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance and 20 to 21 per cent for Macron’s centrist camp.
If the RN obtains an absolute majority, RN party chief Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 28-year-old protege with no governing experience, could become prime minister in a tense “cohabitation” with Macron.
On Monday, Macron plans to convene a government meeting to decide the further course of action, government sources told AFP.
France is heading for a year of political chaos and confusion with a hung Assembly, said Mujtaba Rahman, Europe head at Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy.
“There is no precedent in recent French politics for such an impasse,” Rahman said.
