The new election in France

Measurement: No majority for National Assembly

France's far-right National Assembly looks set to win between 190 and 220 seats in Sunday's second round of elections - well short of the 289 seats required for an absolute majority.

This is according to an opinion poll conducted by Harris Interactive for three French media houses, according to Reuters.

The left-wing alliance NPF comes second in the poll with 159 to 183 seats, and President Macron's center alliance gets 110 to 135 seats.

Over 220 candidates from the NPF and Macron's alliance have withdrawn from the election in districts where there are more than two candidates on the list, with the aim of uniting the opposition to the National Assembly

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The Prime Minister: A right-wing majority can be avoided

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is calling on the French to unite to prevent the far-right National Assembly from gaining an absolute majority in Sunday's second round of the new election. This is reported by AFP.

National Assembly is the only party that has a chance of getting its own majority, but that can be avoided by voting for the opposing candidates regardless of who they are, says Attal.

- It is not fun for many French people to have to block (National Assembly) by voting for someone they don't want [...] but it is our responsibility, he says.

223 candidates from the left-wing alliance NPF and President Macron's center alliance have withdrawn from the election in districts where there are more than two names on the ballot, with the aim of unifying the opposition to the National Assembly, writes Bloomberg.

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Macron's father: The decision on new elections was made before the EU elections

Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve parliament and call new elections in France was announced after the EU elections. According to the president's father, Jean-Michel Macron, the decision was made long before that.

- The decision did not come because of the result in the EU election. He had already talked to me about it two months earlier, he says in an interview with the French daily newspaper Le Dauphiné ahead of Sunday's second round of the election.

In the interview, which was noticed by several French media, Jean-Michel Macron also says that Emmanuel Macron talked about the parliament becoming impossible to govern.