A left-wing coalition that unexpectedly formed ahead of the second round of France’s parliamentary elections is expected to win the most seats.
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition is expected to come in second, while Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rally National is predicted to come in third, a major blow to the French president’s biggest rival.
France’s left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called the forecast “a great relief for the majority of our country” and called for the prime minister to resign.
Mélenchon is the most prominent of a group of left-wing leaders who have unexpectedly coalesced ahead of two general elections.
If that forecast is confirmed in official figures due to be released late Sunday or early Monday, it will throw the European Union’s pillar and France’s second-largest economy into deep uncertainty and make it unclear who will be prime minister to rule France alongside Macron.