France: Will the National Rally win an Absolute Majority?

The second round of the legislative elections for the National Assembly in France take place on Sunday. Th clear winner of the first round, the National Rally (NR) is aiming to reach the magic number of 289 seats to be able to form a stable government with an absolute majority. However, faced with such an eventuality, the other parties have re-created a Republican Front to prevent this from happening and based on the latest polls, the NR will only be able to win between 190 to 220 seats which is far from their stated goal. If this were to be the case, we can expect a renewed period of instability as the Republican Front is not meant as a formal governmental coalition and it will be difficult to find a candidate for prime minister who will be supported by all of the Republican Front parties. President Macron will paradoxically continue to play an essential role in setting the country's direction for the next three years as he is the ultimate decision- maker to name a future prime minister.