The transformation of French politics is complete. Following the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election earlier this month, French voters over the weekend gave him a parliamentary majority to enact a platform that Macron says — and they hope — will rejuvenate the nation. The opposition, while greatly diminished, has pledged to fight on, challenging his mandate and pledging to protect from the "absolute power" that the president seemed ready to wield.
Macron, a political neophyte who has never held political office and only briefly served as minister of the economy in the Cabinet of his predecessor, Francois Hollande, has nevertheless proved a compelling figure on the campaign trail with both great timing and an unerring ability to read the public mood. In less than a year, he launched his own campaign and a political movement — En Marche (Republic on the Move, or REM) — that won a sweeping victory in Sunday's vote. According to a tentative tally, REM won 350 of the 577 total seats in parliament, with the center-right alliance claiming 137 seats, and the center-left Socialists took 44. Far-left parties, including the French Communist Party, won 27 seats.
Also notable was the showing of the far-right National Front party. Even though it is one of the strongest political forces in France, claiming more than a quarter of the electorate and pushing its leader into the presidential runoff in two consecutive ballots, the party had just two seats in the last assembly. This time, the party won 8 seats, among them party head Marine Le Pen, who will join parliament for the first time.