Turnout worries for Macron ahead of second round

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe called for high turnout in tomorrow's parliamentary election which is expected to hand President Emmanuel Macron's new party an overwhelming majority.

Macron's year-old Republic on the Move (REM) party and its allies are tipped to win a landslide in the run-off election for the 577-member lower house of parliament.

Pollsters forecast them winning up to 470 seats, but low turnout in the first round has led critics to question the strength of the mandate for Macron's ambitious reform agenda.

In the first round, the abstention rate hit a nearly 60-year high of 51.3 percent and is forecast to rise to 53-54 percent in the run-off, much higher than the 44.6 percent in the last election five years ago.

Sunday's results promise to deliver huge change to the National Assembly, bringing in a younger generation of lawmakers, many of whom are new to politics.

Macron, a 39-year-old centrist unknown to most people three years ago, looks on course to complete his revolution of French politics by securing a massive majority.

REM has fielded a mix of centrists and moderate left- and rightwingers drawn from France's established parties, as well as complete newcomers including a star mathematician and a former bullfighter.

A new poll published on Thursday underlined the scale of the losses for France's main rightwing Republicans party and Socialists who have dominated French political life for decades.

REM and its allies were tipped for 440-470 seats, the Republicans and its allies for 70-90 seats and the Socialists 20-30 seats -- a loss for them of more than 200 seats after their five years in power under president Francois Hollande.

Many opposition leaders have stressed the danger of Macron facing little opposition or scrutiny from parliament under a constitution that confers huge powers on the president.

The vote on Sunday will be the final stage of France's presidential and parliamentary election sequence which started in November last year with a primary to pick the candidate of the rightwing Republicans party.