Macron headed for huge majority, but low turnout a concern

French voters have put President Emmanuel Macron's party on course for a crushing parliamentary majority, though a record low turnout in the first round of voting raised concerns on June 12 over the strength of his future mandate.

Projections showed Macron widening his centrist revolution, with his Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) party and its ally MoDem tipped to win between 400 and 445 seats in the 577-member National Assembly in next second round on June 18.

Such a share would give Macron - who founded his party just a year ago - one of the biggest parliamentary majorities seen in the modern French state.

"France is back," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe declared triumphantly.

Government spokesman Christophe Castaner said the 49 percent turnout - the lowest for six decades in such a vote - was "a failure of this election", acknowledging that the Macron team would need to reach out to those who stayed away.

But former prime minister Alain Juppe of the rightwing Republicans said the low turnout was a sign of "deep malaise" in the electorate and that a clean sweep by Macron would be bad for democracy.

The stakes of the second round are clear," said the current mayor of Bordeaux, calling for Republicans voters to turn out in force on June 18. "Having a monochrome parliament is never good for democratic debate."

Among commentators also sounding a cautionary note was Nicolas Beytout of the daily L'Opinion, who wrote: "Sure, Emmanuel Macron is ready to pull off the unthinkable for someone who didn't even have a party a year ago - a spectacular majority in the National Assembly."

But Macron's score of 24 percent in the first round of the presidential race and Sunday's low turnout...