France      June 9 2017 

Well, just weeks after its presidential elections France will go to the polls again this week end to elect a new Parliament

Unbelievably, En Marche, President Emmanuel Macron’s new centrist party, is reportedly within reach of a clear majority

France is said to be in the grip of a sort of “Macron mania” since the presidential election which has enabled Macron to find candidates for to contest all 577 seats in the French Parliament

A series of polls suggest En Marche will win at least a 289 seat majority and could even win one of the largest parliamentary majorities in postwar France

French voters in 11 constituencies abroad have already voted and En Marche was ahead of other candidates in 10 of those 11

We may not know the final outcome of these elections until 18 June

Like France’s presidential election, the parliamentary election is also usually a 2 round process

To be elected in the first round, a candidate is required to secure an absolute majority of votes cast equal to at least 25% of eligible voters

Candidates who fail to satisfy these conditions, but who secure 12.5% of votes, go to the 2^nd round election on 18 June

In the second round, the candidate with the most votes wins the seat even if he or she fails to win a majority of votes

Europe and the world will be watching France this week end for the results of this first round election