20 June 2017 12:00 am
PARIS, (AFP), June19, 2017 - French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party swept to a large majority in parliamentary elections on Sunday, although it fell short of a predicted landslide.
Macron’s year-old Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) and their allies won 351 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, final results showed after the second round of an election which has eliminated many high-profile figures.
The party Macron founded just 16 months ago has re-drawn the French political map, although the winning score was considerably lower than the 470 seats predicted by some pre-vote surveys.
But it gives the 39-year-old president one of France’s biggest post-war majorities, strengthening his hand in implementing his programme of business-friendly reforms.
“A year ago, no-one would have imagined such a political renewal,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said.
“It is down to the president’s desire to breathe new life into democracy and to the French people who wanted to give parliament a new face.” Macron’s success was tempered by a record low turnout of just under 44 percent, leading his opponents to claim he had no groundswell of support.