Jospin casts his vote

Major Upset Predicted in French General Election

The predictions are being seen as a condemnation of the centre-right coalition's plans to place qualification for European Monetary Union high on France's political agenda.

The polls closed at 1800(GMT), with indications suggesting that the turnout was slightly lower than in the last election four years ago. The final result will not be known until after the second round of voting is completed next weekend.

Computer predictions give the Socialists 27%, the centre-right coalition 31.5%, the Communists 9%, the far-right Front Nationale 15.3% and Other parties 16.7%. These figures put the centre-right's share of the vote down by 25%.

Juppe votes

The left has done far better than expected, and it's suspected that the first round has generated a protest vote against Prime Minister Juppe. The coalition he leads has failed to handle record unemployment, and has imposed austere budgetary moves to prepare France for European monetary union. That coalition seems now to be paying the price.

Socialist Party leader Lionel Jospin has called on all left-of-centre voters to back a "pact for change" in the second round of voting which takes place next Sunday.

He said the first round results "appear to indicate that the French can see a future with the left". But Mr Jospin called on supporters to "rally and wage a positive second-round campaign based on proposals."

Jean-Marie Le Pen

The far-right party led by Jean-Marie Le Pen may now hold the key to the second round of voting. The key question will be which side his supporters will back in the next round in constituencies where their own candidate did not secure enough votes today to get through.

The people were voting for more than six thousand three hundred candidates, representing 68 parties.

The main contenders are the ruling coalition, the Rally for the Republic (RPR), founded by French President, Jacques Chirac, the centre-right Union for French Democracy (UDF), and a Socialist-led opposition coalition including Communists and Greens.

An early election

Casting votes

Opinion polls and financial markets are banking on a conservative victory that would give President Jacques Chirac's supporters a new five-year majority in the National Assembly. The polls, which by law have to stop a week before the election, have predicted an equal showing of between 30 and 39 percent for right and left in the first round and have forecast high abstentions.

But polls for the second round next Sunday on June 1, which have been published on the Internet and by some newspapers in defiance of the law, are predicting a majority for the right of between 50 and 70 seats.