Macron’s party dominates French parliamentary vote

Associated Press

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron’s party, including untested novices, will be sweeping into the lower house of the French parliament, hogging a clear majority of seats after winning an overwhelming victory in Sunday’s elections and clinching the young leader’s hold on power.

In a system that has only ever been governed by the center-left or the centerright, Sunday’s vote marked the beginning of a French “third way,” a government from the center that once seemed impossible.

Mr. Macron fulfilled his wish to disrupt politics as usual with new faces — including a farmer, a teacher and a math genius — and a new approach. But he may be getting more than he bargained for with the entry into parliament of loud voices from the ultra-left and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, both promising to fight his plans to overhaul French labor laws, one of the touchiest subjects in France.

There was no public celebration by Mr. Macron’s government Sunday night as his party claimed a historic majority. The number of voters turned off by the political process highlighted the urgency of the job facing the country’s newly elected leader.

Sunday’s turnout of about 44 percent was the lowest ever for a French legislative election, and about 10 percentage points below the previous record low, a reminder that almost half of the vote in April’s first round of the presidential election went to candidates opposed to the open borders and free markets of the European Union that Mr. Macron favors.

“Through their vote, a wide majority of the French have chosen hope over anger,” said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, reiterating his “total” determination to work on major reforms in the coming months.

At the same time, Mr. Philippe also said: “Abstentionism is never good for democracy. The government will consider it has an obligation to succeed.”

A minor reshuffle of the Cabinet, an obligatory move after parliamentary elections, is expected this week, perhaps as soon as Monday.

Pollsters projected Republic on the Move! and its allies could take up to about 360 of the lower chamber’s 577 seats. Official partial results confirmed the trend, showing them with 327 seats, with 33 seats yet to be counted. The party will have far more than the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority to carry out Mr.Macron’s program.

Mainstream conservatives and their allies, the closest rivals, held their ground better than expected. The Interior Ministry counted the Republicans and allied candidates with 131 seats, with 33 seats still uncounted.

The Socialist Party, which dominated the outgoing Assembly, was flattened by the unpopularity of former President Francois Hollande. With its allies, it could get fewer than 50 seats, according to projections.

The far-right Ms. Le Pen, who rivaled him for the presidency, won a seat representing her northern bastion around Henin-Beaumont with more than 58 percent of the vote.

Ms. Le Pen’s nemesis, the ultra- left Jean-Luc Melenchon, and his allies will have the required 15 lawmakers needed to form a group.