French centre-right storms ahead

PARIS, France -- President Jacques Chirac's conservatives looked set for a landslide win in parliamentary elections after Sunday's first round of voting put them firmly ahead with the far-right slipping, exit polls said.

The mainstream right's strong showing -- 43.1 percent to 36.1 percent for the left, according to the polling group CSA -- meant Chirac can hope for full powers over the next five years rather than have to "cohabit" with the left as in the past.

The anti-immigrant National Front of far-right populist Jean-Marie Le Pen scored 11.6 percent in the exit poll, less than its 14.9 percent score in 1997 but still enough to let it fight runoff races next Sunday in its strongholds in southeastern and eastern France.

The National Front and a dissident far-right party scored 13.1 together.

Turnout hit a record low. Many French voters were apparently more interested in watching World Cup soccer matches and enjoying sunny weather than in voting in the first of two rounds to elect a new National Assembly.

EXTRA INFORMATION • In-Depth: France Decides 2002

Abstentions hit a record of about 36 percent, reflecting voter apathy after Chirac's skewed May 5 landslide presidential victory against Le Pen and a widespread feeling the centre-right government he appointed after that was certain to win.

The Sofres polling group predicted that Chirac's conservatives would win between 380 and 420 seats in the new National Assembly compared to only 135 to 175 for the mainstream left. The far-right was due to win up to two seats, it said.

The high abstention rate and wide selection of candidates -- 15 on average per constituency -- was expected to boost the National Front and possibly help it win a few deputies in the next National Assembly. It won one seat in 1997.

The same mood worked in Le Pen's favour in the first presidential voting round on April 21 by eroding the scores of mainstream candidates such as ex-Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, who ended up third behind Chirac and Le Pen.

Centre-right Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin expressed optimism that his government would win a comfortable majority in the two-round vote to push through its planned reforms on tax and pensions and crime crackdown.

"I'm confident, even though no election is ever played out in advance," he said as he voted in western France.

Raffarin's stop-gap government has gained the edge by using its brief spell in power since last month's presidential vote to prove it will swiftly get tough on crime -- a key voter concern that boosted support for hardliner Le Pen.

A record 8,456 candidates came forward to contest the 577 seats in France's National Assembly lower house, a crowded field many worry could splinter the mainstream vote and play to the advantage of Le Pen's National Front.

If no one in a constituency wins more than half the votes in round one, candidates there who poll more than 12.5 percent of the registered electorate go through to a final round next Sunday.

The possibility of a fragmented vote means National Front candidates could qualify for the second round in more than 150 constituencies -- though they are only expected to win around four seats in all.

"There are just too many candidates," Alain Bellaiche, 45, a writer on philosophy, voting in Paris told Reuters.