France's political future hangs in the balance as votes cast in final round of snap election

• French voters are heading to the polls on Sunday for the final round of voting in a snap parliamentary election.
• After an initial ballot suggested the far-right National Rally (RN) group would become the biggest party in France's National Assembly, parties on the center-right and left have joined forces to try to block RN's advance.
• By offering voters a starker choice and fewer candidates, RN's opponents hope that the electorate will opt for the non-RN candidate.

French voters are heading to the polls on Sunday for the second and final round of voting in a snap parliamentary election.

After an initial ballot suggested the far-right National Rally (RN) group would become the biggest party in France's National Assembly, parties on the center-right and left have joined forces to try to block RN's advance.

Both President Emmanuel Macron's "Together" (Ensemble) alliance and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) have called on voters to reject the party in the second round, and have withdrawn candidates in many constituencies where another candidate was better placed to beat the RN.

By offering voters a starker choice and fewer candidates, RN's opponents hope that the electorate will opt for the non-RN candidate.

Analysts predict that National Rally — the nationalist, anti-immigrant and euroskeptic party led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella and party figurehead Marine Le Pen — is now less likely to be able to achieve an absolute majority (of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly) but is still likely to gather the most votes.

The so-called "republican front" strategy being pushed by pro-Macron and left-wing parties has the primary aim of making it substantially more difficult for the RN to obtain an absolute majority.

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