French President Emmanuel Macron won a large majority in the lower house of parliament Sunday, freeing his hand to implement far-reaching reforms.

A projection for France 2 television after the second round of the parliamentary election showed an alliance led by Macron’s centrist La République En Marche (LRM) party winning 355 seats out of 577 in the National Assembly, well over the threshold for an absolute majority.

However, the victory was below forecasts of a result above 400 seats and was marred by a record-high abstention rate of around 56 percent.

An alliance led by the conservative Les Républicains party emerged as the biggest opposition group, with 125 seats. The Socialist Party was predicted to win 34 seats — versus more than 300 during the previous legislature. Marine Le Pen’s National Front party was on course to win eight seats, short of its aim of taking at least 15. Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left France Insoumise (France Unbowed) movement, together with the communist party, won some 30 seats.

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