London [UK], June. 12 : French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist La Republique En Marche is heading towards a stunning majority in parliament after a strong showing in Sunday's first round of voting.
Official final results released early on Monday showed Macron's one-year-old La Republique En Marche (Republic on the Move) and ally MoDem winning 32.32 percent in the first round, ahead of Les Republicains and its allies on 21.56 percent and the far-right Front National on 13.20 percent.
The Socialist party - the party of Macron's predecessor Francois Hollande - took just 9.5 percent of the vote with its allies, The Guardian reported.
France is back," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe declared as the news came through. "For the past month, the president has shown confidence, willingness and daring in France and on the international stage.
He called the result a vindication of Macron's "winning strategy". The final results will be confirmed next Sunday after the second round of voting If Macron's party does go on to win a landslide victory in the final round on 18 June, it will redraw the landscape of French politics.
The 39-year-old's La Republique En Marche (LREM) party is hoping to make huge gains in Parliament as solid majority will help Macron to implement his plans to loosen France's extensive labour laws, the change he wants to introduce in the French welfare system on pensions and unemployment benefits.
France is suffering from high unemployment, a stagnant economy and security worries. The government has also struggled to cope with immigration and integration. Macron's party contested 526 constituencies out of a possible 577. His party put forward 266 women candidates, while 219 come from outside politics. His parliamentary candidates include a historic number of newcomers that from a cross-section of society: from an ex-bullfighter to a former fighter pilot, a mathematician and an anti-corruption magistrate as well as former local politicians - whose key campaign argument was "give the new president a chance".
On the other hand, Marine Le Pen's far-right Front National, which came second in the presidential election with 10.6m votes, was projected to win between three and 11 seats - with about 14% of the vote, which the party said was "disappointing".
Source: ANI
