France's campaign kicks off as Macron gambles against far-right

France launched a frenzied election campaign on Monday, called by President Emmanuel Macron to counter the far right, as football star Kylian Mbappe warned that the country was at a crucial juncture, News.Az reports citing AFP.

Candidates filed for the 577 seats in the lower house of the National Assembly until Sunday evening, with official campaigning beginning at midnight for the June 30 first round; the final round is set for July 7.

Macron's centrist alliance, calling the snap polls some three years early after the far right trounced his party in EU Parliament elections, is still behind with little chance of winning an outright majority itself.

Many in France, including ex-leaders, remain baffled over why Macron took the risk of calling an election that could see the far-right National Rally (RN) leading the government and its leader, Jordan Bardella, 28, as prime minister.

One of the last high-profile candidates to register was Marie-Caroline Le Pen, the elder sister of the RN's three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, who will stand for the party in the central Sarthe region.

Her daughter, Nolwenn Olivier, is Bardella's ex-partner.

News.Az