Investing.com - Early polling is predicting that left-wing parties have emerged victorious in the second round of France's parliamentary elections, pushing the right-wing populist National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, into third place.
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, also saw his centrist coalition perform better than anticipated. These results, if validated by the polls, indicate that Macron's daring strategy to curb the National Rally's growing influence appears to have paid off.
Following these developments, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal tendered his resignation.
The lack of a definite majority for any political bloc has plunged France into a state of uncertainty that may potentially impact its economy, the second-largest in the European Union, and cause political instability just weeks before the Paris Olympics.
The final results of this unpredictable snap election are not anticipated until late Sunday (Monday AEST). Macron's unexpected decision to dissolve the parliament and call for an election four weeks ago was seen as a significant risk taken to bolster his centrist alliance.
However, it seems that Macron's gamble has not yielded the desired outcomes. The deeply unpopular president's alliance is projected to lose its status as the largest single group in parliament, potentially by a significant margin. The National Rally party, led by Marine Le Pen, managed to increase its parliamentary seats but fell considerably short of obtaining an absolute majority, which would have resulted in France's first far-right government since World War II.