Macron's party sweeps French parliament seats

French President Emmanuel Macron's trailblazing centrist party on June 19 savored an election victory that gave it a strong majority in parliament, redrawing the country's political map and giving the young leader a strong hand to implement business-friendly reforms.

Although it fell short of a predicted landslide, Macron's Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) and its allies won 350 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly after the second round of an election that eliminated many high-profile figures.

The party Macron founded just 14 months ago has caused a political earthquake even if the winning score was considerably lower than the 470 seats predicted by some pre-vote surveys.

It gives the 39-year-old president one of France's biggest post-war majorities in what editorialist Alexis Brezet of the right-leaning daily Le Figaro called a "revolution."

"A profoundly renewed political generation takes over the reins of legislative power," he wrote.

"In the history of our institutions, it's a revolution without precedent since 1958," the start of France's Fifth Republic.

Macron's confident start at home, where he has concentrated on trying to restore the lost prestige of the president, and his bold action on the international stage has inspired a host of positive headlines.

REM's comfortable lower house majority will give Macron a free hand to pursue his agenda of loosening labor laws to try to boost employment, to overhaul France's social security system and to breathe new life into the European Union.

But detractors point to a record low turnout of just under 44 percent in June 18's polling, saying Macron cannot claim to enjoy a deep vein of support.

Radical left leader Jean...