Elections to the 577 seats in the lower house of France's National Assembly are to set begin today, on Sunday, in the first of two rounds, with the shape of the new parliament becoming clear after the second round's elections, on June 19.

An alliance of left-wing parties comprising La France Insoumise, as well as the Socialist, Green and Communist parties may present a serious challenge to Emmanuel Macron's Ensemble alliance.

While Macron needs support from the majority of lawmakers to push through a pro-business and pro-EU legislative agenda, polls suggested he could achieve that, but opposition parties are negotiating tie-ups, hoping to control parliament and as a result blocking Macron's reforms.

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In Melenchon's deal with the Greens, the two parties said that even if they agreed France should not abandon the euro or leave the EU, they were "ready to disobey European rules", including on matters such as budgets and competition issues.

The Greens and LFI hailed the deal and described it as a "historic moment."

There is a concern among political parties about the possibility of high voter abstention, despite this election determining the country's politics for the next five years.

In the first round of the elections, the abstention rate is expected to be over 50%, setting a new record, according to France 24.