MACRON’S PARTY SUFFERS SETBACK

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron’s new centrist political party has suffered its first electoral setback in Senate elections in which the right-wing Republicans party strengthened its dominance in the upper chamber of Parliament.

Results from the vote to renew 171 of 348 seats left the French president’s Republic on the Move party (LREM) with a group of only 28 senators.

The outcome, which is not expected to significantly impact Macron’s ability to push through his economic reform agenda, came after months of falling approval ratings for the 39-year-old head of state.

But after a week in which he signed into law one of his signature economic reforms — an overhaul of rigid French labour laws — a new survey Sunday brought more positive news.

A poll published in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper showed 45 percent of respondents approved of his presidency, up from 40 percent last month.

French senators are elected by 76,000 local and national lawmakers, not the general public, which put LREM at a disadvantage because the party was only formed in April 2016 and is not implanted nationwide.

But Macron’s top team had once hoped to increase their presence in the upper house from the 29 seats they controlled, comprising lawmakers who had switched over to the party.