France votes left, right and centre

Empty seats at France’s National Assembly in Paris on Monday. Pic/AFP

French voters divided their legislature among left, centre and far right, with no single political faction getting even close to the majority needed to form a government. The risk of paralysis loomed Monday for the European Union's second-largest economy. Each party would need 289 seats absolute majority in a 577 seat parliament.

President Emmanuel Macron gambled that his decision to call snap elections would give France a "moment of clarification", but the outcome showed the opposite, less than three weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics thrusts the country on the international stage.

According to the second-round results tallied early Monday, a leftist coalition surged to take the most seats in parliament. Macron's centrists have the second-largest faction and the unpopular president will have to form alliances to run the government. Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally, which led in the first round of voting, came in third.

Coalition govt?

Unlike other countries in Europe, France doesn't have a tradition of lawmakers from rival political camps coming together to form a majority. France is also more centralised than many other European countries, with many more decisions made in Paris.

182/577
Seats Left-wing's New Popular Front polled

163/577
Seats Macron's centrist Ensemble alliance polled

143/577
Seats Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally polled

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