LONDON, May 30: The French parliamentary elections seemed to be poised on a knife-edge, with opinion polls showing a second round surge for the combined left to usher in what looks like a new era of unpredictable power sharing in Paris.

French stock markets plunged on Thursday after opinion polls commissioned by the banks showed the combined Socialists and Communists poised to win the second round on Sunday, forcing a fresh bout of aggressive campaigning by President Jacques Chirac.

The first round had proved inconclusive with the ruling Gaullists headed by Prime Minister Alain Juppe recording their lowest voting percentage of 36 per cent since 1958 compared with the combined left's 42 per cent.

The final figures for the first round showed how disillusioned the French voters had become, with as many as 35 per cent abstaining and another five per cent putting in blank votes.

President Chirac, who had gambled by calling for early elections in the hope of getting improved majority to press on with his European agenda specifically on single Euro currency, was reported to be making frantic efforts to stave off a Socialist victory telling his last cabinet meeting that a change in political direction at this critical juncture for France would plunge the country into ``weakness and confusion''.

The stock market in the country fell as opinion poll results, which were published outside France as they cannot be published under French electoral laws, were predicting a convincing victory for the combined left.

With the removal of Alain Juppe, his unpopular prime minister, President Chirac usually expected to remain aloof from electioneering, has become the leading figure in centre-right's faltering camaign, media reports suggested.``By turning the parliamentary elections to be settled by a second round vote on Sunday into a personal test of the President's prestige and popularity, President Chirac has dangerously upped the stakes,'' political commentators said.

Media reports said President Chirac's attack at the combined left forces lacked a knockout punch. They said there was a limit to how far the President of France could attack the left when he may shortly be sharing power with it.

Jean Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right French National Front, derided Chirac's performance as an admission of defeat.

Socialist leader Lionel Jospin, poised to become the prime minister if the combined left wins the elections, meanwhile, accused Germany last night of using dubious accounting methods to ensure qualification for the single European currency.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.