France votes:Macron faces tough battle for control of Parliament

In France, second round voting for National Assembly is underway. President Macron has appealed to voters to give him a solid majority in the superior interest of the nation. Macron's party needs an outright majority of 289 seats out of 577 National Assembly seats.  Elections for the 577 seats in the lower-house National Assembly are a two-round process.In a first round election held on 12th June, a left-green alliance led by Far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon finished neck and neck with Macron's  Centre Right Ensemble Alliance. Control of Parliament is necessary for Macron to continue ruling France by decree.

Nupes, an alliance of left-wing parties – comprised of La France Insoumise ("France Unbowed"), Socialist, Green and Communist parties – is expected to mount a serious challenge to President Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble ("Together") alliance.  While the election will determine the shape of country’s politics for the next five years, there is a concern among political parties about the potential for high voter abstention. As per media report, projections based on elections’ partial results showed at the national level, Macron’s party and its allies got about 25-26 percent of the vote. They were neck-in-neck with a new leftist coalition composed of hard-left, Socialists and Green party supporters.Following Macron’s reelection in May, his centrist coalition is seeking an absolute majority that would enable it to implement his campaign promises, which include tax cuts and raising the retirement age from 62 to 65.