REPORT: Real victory will be in 5 years, says Macron camp after election win

President Emmanuel Macron's government on Monday promised to reshape France's political landscape after winning the commanding parliamentary majority he sought to push through far-reaching pro-growth reforms.

Macron's centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party and its center-right Modem ally won 350 out of 577 lower house seats in Sunday's election, which marked a record low turnout for a parliamentary ballot in the postwar Fifth Republic.

Government spokesman Christophe Castaner said the high abstention rate -- more than 50 percent of voters stayed at home -- was a failure for the governing class and highlighted the need for a new politics.

"The real victory wasn't last night, it will be in five years' time when we have really changed things," Castaner told RTL radio.

He also said dissent would not be tolerated among the dozens elected on the Macron party ticket, including many newcomers such as 24-year-old law school graduate Typhanie Degois.

"Being a member of parliament for Republic on the Move is a commitment to Emmanuel Macron's presidential program. It's about loyalty," he said, adding that the previous Socialist government was dogged by dissenters pursuing personal goals.

 

 

REUTERS