[Source: Reuters]

France was on course for a hung parliament in Sunday’s election, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot ahead of the far right, in a major upset that was set to bar Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) from running the government.

The result would mark a huge setback for the far right, which opinion surveys ahead of the vote had projected would win comfortably, before the left and centrist alliances cooperated by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.

The RN was set to come third, according to pollsters’ projections based on early results.

In his first reaction, its leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces, known as the “republican front” a “disgraceful alliance” that he said would paralyze France.

The election will leave parliament divided in three big groups with hugely different platforms and no tradition at all of working together.

The vote was also a humiliation for President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap election after his ticket was trounced in European Parliament elections last month.

The leftist alliance, which gathers the hard left, the Socialists and Greens, who have long been at odds with each other, was forecast to win between 172 and 215 seats out of 577, according to the pollsters’ projections.

These projections are usually reliable.

Cries of joy and tears of relief broke out at the leftist alliance’s gathering in Paris when the estimates were announced. At the Greens’ headquarters activists screamed in joy, embracing each other.

There was stunned silence, clenched jaws and tears at the RN party headquarters, as young party members checked their phones.

Macron’s centrist alliance, which he founded to underpin his first presidential run in 2017, was projected to be narrowly second with 150-180 seats.

The RN was seen getting 115 to 155 seats.