Voters in France’s overseas territories and living abroad have started casting ballots in parliamentary runoff elections that could hand an unprecedented victory to the nationalist far right.

Parties on the left were so fractious, they broke up their alliance months ago, but the possibility of a government controlled by the far right drew them back together.

In Mennecy, a sleepy town in the Essonne area south of Paris, Mathieu Hillaire was holding his final campaign event as Popular Front candidate. He is in a duel with RN candidate Nathalie Da Conceicao Carvalho, after the pro-Macron candidate pulled out to give her left-wing rival a better chance of blocking the far right.

France is set to elect the right-wing National Rally (RN) as the largest party in government, yet no party may emerge with a clear majority in this tightly contested election as the second round of voting kicks off this weekend.

There are 577 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. Just 76 deputies were elected with an outright majority in the first round so the majority of seats are still up for grabs.

France's tense election campaign was on hold Saturday on the eve of the final vote, but thoughts were turning to an uncertain future before polling even opens.He now faces the final three years of his presidency with no clear ruling majority,

Fear of what the country could look like if Marine Le Pen’s far-right party wins a majority of seats in the final round of voting across the country prompts final push