France's leftist coalition won the most parliamentary seats in a pivotal legislative election that kept the far right from power but put the country in the unprecedented position of having no dominant political bloc in parliament.

Compared to the display of democratic enthusiasm in France, Tokyo’s gubernatorial race yielded a lacklustre vote in favour of the incumbent.

President Emmanuel Macron called France’s snap parliamentary election to “clarify” the political situation. But after the shock second-round results, the waters are more muddied than they have been in decades.