France's political forces were on Friday to make a final bid for votes in crunch legislative elections that could see the far right take control of the government in a historic first.
The official campaigning period will end at midnight followed by a day off on Saturday, during which political activity is forbidden ahead of voting Sunday. Another week of campaigning will then lead up to the decisive second round on July 7.
The far-right National Rally (RN) is tipped to win the election, potentially giving the party the post of prime minister for the first time in its history in a tense "cohabitation" with centrist President Emmanuel Macron.
"Of course, I want to avoid the extremes, especially the far right, being able to win" the ballot, Macron's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told broadcaster BFMTV Friday.
Opinion polls suggest his centrist alliance will come only third behind the RN and a broad but fragile left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP).
The RN party chief, Jordan Bardella, 28, would have a chance to lead a government as prime minister.
But he has insisted he would do so only if his party wins an absolute majority of the 577 seats in the National Assembly after the second round.
His party's path to victory could be blocked if the left and centre-right join forces against the RN in the second round of voting.
Macron has caused controversy in the past two weeks by placing the left and the far-right on the same footing, labelling both "extremes".
Speaking in Brussels Thursday, however, he suggested that he would support moderate leftists against the far-right in the second round.
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