French voters head to the polls Sunday for the final round of parliamentary elections, with centrist President Emmanuel Macron's coalition looking to hold off a challenge from a newly formed leftwing alliance. The vote will be decisive for Macron's second-term agenda following his re-election in April, with the year-old needing a majority in order to push through promised tax cuts, welfare reform and raise the retirement age. Projections from polling firms suggest his "Together" coalition is on course to be the biggest party in the next National Assembly, but possibly short of the seats needed for a majority.
New left-wing coalition NUPES is hoping to spring a surprise, with the red-green collective promising to block Macron's agenda after uniting behind year-old figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is also eyeing major gains for her National Rally party, which had just eight seats in the outgoing parliament. Macron was left disappointed by results last weekend after a first round of voting saw Together and NUPES finish neck-and-neck on around 26 percent.
Surging inflation, lacklustre campaigning from newly named Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, and Macron's abrasive personality were all seen as reasons for the under-performance. The first-round vote served to whittle down candidates in most of the country's constituencies to two finalists who will go head-to-head on Sunday.
The election caps an intense two-month sequence to elect a new president and parliament, with voter fatigue seen as one of the reasons for what is expected to be record-low turn-out on Sunday. The contest between Together and NUPES has turned increasingly bitter over the last week, with Macron's allies seeking to paint their main opponents as dangerous far-leftists.
Macron headed to Ukraine last week, hoping to remind voters of his foreign policy credentials and one of Melenchon's perceived weaknesses -- his anti-NATO and anti-EU views at a time of war in Europe. Nothing would be worse than adding French disorder to the world disorder," Macron said.
