Islam Times - French polling stations open for high-stakes legislative vote

Islam Times - French voters are casting their ballots in a parliamentary election that could deprive centrist President Emmanuel Macron of the absolute majority he needs to govern with a free hand.

According to pollsters, Macron's camp in no way guaranteed to reach the 289 threshold for an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

Opinion polls also see the far right likely to score its biggest parliamentary success in decades.

Opinion polls also show the far right is likely to achieve its biggest parliamentary success in decades, while a broad left-green alliance could wind up being the largest opposition group and the conservatives find themselves as kingmakers.

Anyhow, the vote will be a determinant factor in Macron's bid to implement his agenda in his second term in office following his re-election in April.

The 44-year-old leader has vowed to cut taxes, initiate welfare reforms and raise the retirement age.

In order to keep his promises he must secure a majority in parliament.

The first round of voting was a big disappointment to Macron.

The newly-formed leftwing alliance of leftists, Socialists, Greens and Communists, is by far the biggest obstacle for Macron in parliament.

"The vote is extremely open and it would be improper to say that things are settled one way or the other," said left's figurehead Jean-Luc Melenchon, the head of La France Insoumise (LFI, which roughly translates as France Unbowed), and leader of the Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale (New Ecological and Social Popular Union), NUPES.