PARIS, June 10 (RIA Novosti) - France is holding the first round of parliamentary elections Sunday a month after a new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was elected.
Sarkozy's conservative Union for a Popular Movement party (UMP) could increase its majority in the national assembly, the lower house of parliament, from the current 359 seats to 420, according to opinion surveys.
The Socialist Party, whose presidential candidate Segolene Royal lost to Sarkozy, remains the UMP's main rival and is forecast to win 110-170 seats in parliament.
The vote began at 8:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT), and polls will close at 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT). A second round will take place in a week's time.
By noon local time turnout was 22.5%, the interior ministry said.
