President Francois Hollande’s Socialists and their allies were on track Monday to win a strong parliamentary majority after a first-round election that cemented France’s swing to the left. A week ahead of a crucial run-off vote, the Socialists and other left-wing parties won about 46 percent in Sunday’s first round ahead of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP party and its allies with 34 percent, official results showed. With pollsters predicting the Socialists may win a majority of the National Assembly’s 577 seats on their own, party officials on Monday urged voters to keep up the momentum in next Sunday’s second round. “The essential thing is that the president has a strong majority,” Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry said. Sunday’s vote also saw a surge in support for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front, which wants to ditch the euro and battle against what she calls the “Islamisation” of France. Aubry urged the UMP to withdraw its candidates in constituencies where the far right could win to ensure victory for centrist candidates. “I call on the UMP to be clear… Many are watching in France and in Europe and I believe we must be clear in defending certain values,” she said. Hollande defeated Sarkozy in last month’s presidential election and now wants voters to give him a strong mandate to enact left-wing reforms as France battles Europe’s crippling debt crisis, rising joblessness and a stagnant economy. However, after a high turnout in the presidential election, voters were less enthusiastic on Sunday with participation rate at only 57 percent, a record low for a first round. If the second round confirms Sunday’s results, it will increase Hollande’s status in Europe as champion of the movement away from the German-led fixation on austerity towards growth, and give him a confidence boost in upcoming talks with fellow EU leaders on the eurozone crisis. Pollsters say Sunday’s results indicate the Socialists will take between 283 and 329 seats in the run-off vote, likely enough to secure the 289 seats they need to form a majority on their own.
