French socialists, allies lead in votes

Exit polls indicated that the French socialists took the lead in the Sunday legislative elections. However, it was not yet certain whether they had won the majority.

The polling institute CSA announced on Sunday that the left-wing and green parties have won some 46 percent of the votes in the first round, meaning the bloc has secured between 283 and 329 seats in France’s 577-seat parliament where winning 289 seats would mean an outright majority.

Pollsters said that the potential allies in the anti-capitalist Left Front would secure 13-20 seats and help the Socialists win a majority in next week’s run-off.

The voting has apparently dealt a blow to former president Nicolas Sarkozy whose conservative UMP party won 34 percent of the votes.

The poll also saw a surge in support for the far-right National Front party, led by Marine Le Pen. Her party has reportedly won about 13 percent of the overall vote to get only three seats in the chamber.

The election comes more than one month after Socialist Hollande won the presidential vote.

President Hollande needs to win an absolute majority in France’s National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament. The victory would give Hollande unprecedented power to push through his reform program, as his party already has a majority in the Senate.

Laurent Fabius, Hollande’s foreign minister, said the first round of the elections revealed that French voters wanted to be coherent with their votes in presidential elections. However, he stressed that wining a majority will be confirmed in the next week run-off.

SAB/MA/HJL

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