France's Socialist President Francois Hollande is on his way to consolidating power with a leftist parliament after exit polls showed he would be able to form a government without relying on ultra-leftists who oppose closer European integration.
The first projections by public opinion research agencies, based on partially counted votes, showed that his socialist bloc could win about 40 percent of the vote, or between 283 and 329 of the total 577 seats in the National Assembly in the next run-off, and that would be the first time in a decade that the lower house has turned left, Reuters reported.
As predicted by the CSA agency, the left with its allies from the ranks of the Greens would have between 295 and 347 parliamentary mandates, which is well ahead of the conservatives who would win around 35 percent or between 210 and 263 seats and more than the absolute majority of 289 MPs that would give Hollande the freedom hands.
The ultra-left National Front won 13,4 percent, which is less than their leader Marine Le Pen won in the presidential election (17,9%), and it is predicted that they will not have more than three seats in the parliament.
Similar forecasts were made by the Ipsos Institute, while TNS Sofre was the only agency that predicted that, in the worst case, the Socialists and the Greens would fall short of an absolute majority.
The election represents another victory for the left, after it took control of the Senate in 2011 and won the presidential election in May for the first time since 1988.
A low turnout of less than 60 percent, which analysts say did not favor the left, may have prevented Hollande from an even bigger triumph.
"The left has won, but it is not a great victory. It is a relative majority, not an absolute majority. In times of crisis, there is a need for an absolute majority," commented analyst Stefan Roze from the CAP consultancy.
Hollande - who came to the presidency as much on his own merits as on the unpopularity of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and his inability to rein in rising unemployment - needs to rule smoothly as he prepares budget adjustments, including possible spending cuts. If the socialists were to win a comfortable majority, the president could implement his pre-election promises and impose a tax on the rich, i.e. ease strict austerity measures.
He is also under pressure from Berlin to agree to hand over greater control over the state budget to the institutions of the European Union and to take a step closer to the fiscal union, which are measures that will be opposed in parliament by communists and ultra-leftists.
After voting in the first round, the French will go to the polls again a week later, on June 17, on the same day that key parliamentary elections will be held in Greece, which, all together, will affect the future of Europe.
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