The beginning of the second round of parliamentary elections in France

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): French citizens have gone to the polls since the early hours of Sunday, July 7, to choose their representatives in the second round of the parliamentary elections.

The polling stations have been opened since 8:00 am (local time) and the voting process will continue until 8:00 pm. Voters in France's cross-border regions cast their ballots last Saturday.

According to Euronews, in this election, 49.5 million registered voters will elect 577 members of the French House of Representatives.

The far-right National Assembly won a historic victory in the first round of the election last Sunday, raising the prospect of forming France's first far-right government since World War II.

However, Marine Le Pen's hopes of winning an absolute majority in the National Assembly look less certain after the center and left parties united last week in an attempt to thwart the National Assembly.

In this election, three big political blocs are competing: the far-right party "National Assembly", the "New Popular Front" coalition consisting of the center-left, green and left forces and Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition (Ensemble).

These three groups received 34, 28 and 21 percent of the votes respectively in the first round.

Polls show that the National Assembly party will become the dominant legislative force in parliament, but will not be able to achieve an absolute majority of 289 seats. If they get that majority, they could take over the prime ministership and push France sharply to the right.

Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of the National Assembly Party, says that the party will refuse to form a government if it does not get an absolute majority. However, Marine Le Pen has said that if the difference is small, her party may try in this regard.

However, even if the National Assembly party relinquishes the premiership, it will still become the dominant player in parliament with more than 200 MPs (compared to the current 89 MPs). Such a result could plunge the country into a period of parliamentary turmoil and undermine the authority of French President Emmanuel Macron.

In early June, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the country's parliament and announced early elections after the victory of the far-right "National Community" party in the European Parliament elections.

Raphael Glucksman, leader of France's left-wing coalition, said for him the second round of the election was a referendum on whether "the Le Pen family will take control of this country or not."

"France is on the edge of a cliff and we don't know if we're going to jump or not," he told France Inter radio last week.

The National Community Party, which was previously hated by a significant part of the people due to its history of racism and anti-Semitism, in recent years, following the anger of the voters against Emmanuel Macron due to the decrease in the purchasing power of households, as well as concerns about the issue of immigration, has been able to A large segment of the French people to gain popularity.

"The French have a real desire for change," Le Pen told TF1 television on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Gabriel Ethel is expected to lose his job in the post-election reshuffle.

It is expected that the first official results will be announced late Sunday and immediately after the official end of voting at 8 pm.

The results of the current election can have significant effects on France's support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, the situation of immigrants in this country, and the role of France in the European Union.