agencies
Paris, June 18: French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party won a massive majority in parliamentary elections Sunday, early projections showed, dominating the country’s traditional forces in a dramatic re-drawing of the political map.
Macron’s year-old Republic on the Move (REM) and their allies were set to win between 355 and 425 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, according to partial results after the second round of an election in which many high-profile figures were thrown out.
The result, if confirmed, would give 39-year-old Macron one of France’s biggest post-war majorities, strengthening his hand in implementing his business-friendly, pro-EU programme.
But turnout was estimated to be extremely low, at around 44 per cent, giving his critics grounds to claim he has no groundswell of support.
The Assembly is set to be transformed with a new generation of lawmakers — younger, more ethnically diverse and with far more women than the outgoing parliament.
The scale of the change is forecast to be so large that some observers have compared the overhaul to 1958, the start of the present presidential system, or even the post-war rebirth of French democracy in 1945.
Just months ago, Macron was given little chance of becoming President, never mind dominating parliament, but he and the movement he founded 16 months ago have tapped into widespread desire for wholesale change.
His party dominated France’s traditional parties, the rightwing Republicans and Socialists, but also the far-right National Front (FN) of defeated presidential candidate Marine Le Pen which fell far short of its target.
The Socialists were the biggest losers of the night, punished by association with years of high unemployment, social unrest and lost national confidence.
The party lost around 200 seats after five years in power under former president Francois Hollande, leaving them with only around 27 to 49 seats.
The Republicans hung on to between 97 and 130 seats, down from over 200 in the last parliament, and remain the main opposition party. Le Pen’s FN were only expected to win four to eight seats, but she was elected an MP.
But despite the zest for political renewal, the vote failed to generate much excitement.
