Candidates in the runoff of French parliamentary elections are hitting the campaign trail to try to lure voters to cast ballots next weekend after a record abstention rate in the first round and a likely sweep by President Emmanuel Macron's new party.
The Interior Ministry said on Monday that less than half of registered voters cast ballots a day earlier. Those who did gave Macron's the Republic on the Move party 28 percent of the vote — more than 12 points ahead of the closest rival, the mainstream conservatives.
Marine's Le Pen's far-right National Front fell flat with 13 percent of the vote.
Macron's rivals fear the elections will produce a virtual lack of opposition to counter an all-powerful president. Projections show pro-Macron candidates dominating parliament's 577-seat lower house.
French far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, right, poses for a selfie with a supporter after the first round of parliamentary elections in Henin Beaumont, Northern France, Sunday, June 11, 2017. France's prime minister is declaring victory for President Emmanuel Macron's new centrist party in the first round of parliamentary elections set to reshape French politics.
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