NEAR-FINAL RESULTS SHOW MACRON’S PARTY WINNING

French voters gave their new president a clear mandate Sunday to implement far-reaching changes in the first round of parliamentary elections, with his new party showing a crushing victory over France’s two establishment parties.

With 94% of the votes counted, President Emmanuel Macron’s year-old Republic on the Move! party won 28%. The conservative Republicans had 16%, followed by the far-right National Front with 14%. The far-left party of JeanLuc Melenchon had 11%, while the Socialists, who dominated the last National Assembly, had 7%.

Polling agencies projected that Macron’s party would win more than 400 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly in the secondround vote next Sunday.