This article is from the source 'rtcom' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.rt.com/news/391875-french-president-macrons-party-set-to-win/

The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
French president Macron’s party set for victory in 1st round of parliamentary elections French president Macron’s party wins 1st round, aims for big parliamentary majority
(about 9 hours later)
The recently elected president’s Republic On The Move (LREM) party has gained enough votes in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections Sunday that would see it secure an overwhelming parliamentary majority, projections show. President Emmanuel Macron’s political camp has secured a significant victory in the first round of parliamentary elections, which could land the one-year-old political movement with as much as three-quarters of lower house seats when the second round results are announced on June 18.
Macron's party and its allies have won the biggest share of the vote in the first round of the elections based on a partial count of ballots, the French interior ministry has announced. Macron’s La Republique En Marche (REM) and its allied Democratic Movement (MoDem) secured 32.32 percent in the first round, ahead of the Republicans and their allies with 21.56 percent. The National Front (FN) received 13.20 percent in a vote which had lower than 50 percent turnout, official final results released early Monday morning by the interior ministry revealed.
Macron's party scores 32 percent, AFP reports citing projections.
Such a result could land the one-year-old political force with as much as three quarters of lower house seats when the second round results come in on June 18. If REM and MoDem candidates produce similar results in next Sunday’s second round vote, pollsters project that Macron's political alliance could secure between 390 and 445 seats in the 577-member National Assembly. The Republicans and its allies are projected to win between 70 and 110 seats.
While an Elabe poll projects 32 percent for Macron’s party and its center-right Modem ally, it further says that conservative Republicans and their allies received almost 21 percent of the votes. If confirmed, the Republicans headed by Francois Fillon would become the largest opposition force with up to 100 seats in the 577-member 15th National Assembly. The biggest losers of Sunday’s vote appeared to be the Socialists and those on the left of the political spectrum, who only attracted 9.51 percent of the vote. If the second round results show a similar trend, they could lose around 200 seats in the Parliament.
Macron's main rival in the recent presidential election, Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front scored 13 percent, according to Elabe. “France is back,” declared Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, according to AFP. “For the past month, the president has shown confidence, willingness and daring in France and on the international stage.”
The party of another Macron's opponent in the presidential race, Jean-Luc Melenchon's La France insoumise is said to have received 11 percent of the votes in the first round, followed by the Socialist Party and a grouping of left-wing parties with 9 percent. Meanwhile, the Republicans appealed to their voters to participate in the June 18 second round, warning against one party monopoly.
The 1st round of parliamentary elections showed a low turnout, according to the French Ministry of Interior. Authorities registered a 51.4 percent abstention rate on Sunday. “Because our project aims at getting all the French people together, we want to tell those who decided not to vote, or who made a different choice during this first round, or who expressed their anger using this vote... we want to tell those potential voters that the country needs balanced powers, rather than having it all concentrated in one party,” Les Republicains (LR) leader Francois Baroin said Sunday.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen blamed a skewed electoral system for the low voter turnout.
“This catastrophic abstention rate should raise questions over this method of voting, which turns millions of our compatriots off of voting,” explained Le Pen.
READ MORE: Macron has very pragmatic views, points for rapprochement with Russia – Putin to Le FigaroREAD MORE: Macron has very pragmatic views, points for rapprochement with Russia – Putin to Le Figaro
Macron's centrist LREM party fielded over 400 candidates of various backgrounds. Should his neither right nor left political movement win the elections, it will signal a further change of course in French politics, having been shaped by the mainstream left-right divide for decades. Sunday’s voter turnout of 48.8 percent is the lowest on record following the creation of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
"It's a renewal of the political class," health ministry administrator Jose Jeffrey, who supports LREM, told Reuters. The election showed extremely high support for Macron's party, who could potentially secure the biggest majority since President Charles De Gaulle’s party got over 80 percent of the seats in Parliament in 1968.