Voting underway in France's fraught legislative elections

Polling stations opened across mainland France on Sunday for the first round in high-stakes snap parliamentary elections. Some 49 million French are eligible to vote and turnout is expected to be high after a short and divisive campaign.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am and will close 12 hours later, immediately followed by projections that usually predict the result with a degree of accuracy.

Voters in France's overseas territories that span the globe cast ballots earlier in the weekend. 

Cassandre Cazaux, a nurse who voted in France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, where tensions remain high following last month's deadly riots, said the elections were "decisive".

"It should be well attended, but I don't know if everyone will play along and come out to vote," she said.

Elections for the 577 seats in the National Assembly (parliament) are a two-round process. The shape of the new parliament will become clear after the second round on 7 July.

President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call snap elections after the far right made considerable gains in European Parliament elections this month stunned friends and foes and sparked uncertainty in Europe's second-biggest economy.

The Paris stock exchange suffered its biggest monthly decline in two years in June, dropping by 6.4 percent, according to figures released on Friday.

A gamble

Macron apparently hoped to catch political opponents off guard by presenting voters with a crucial choice about France's future, but observers say he might have lost his gamble.

Despite the charged campaign, Macron has insisted he will serve out the remainder of his second term until 2027, no matter which party wins.

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.   

On Monday, Macron plans to convene a government meeting to decide the further course of action, government sources told French news agency AFP. 

(with AFP)