World Bulletin / News Desk

The year-old centrist party of French President Emmanuel Macron prepared Saturday for the first round of parliamentary elections looking set to grab the lead in the race for a clear majority.

Macron's Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) party, which he only founded in April 2016 as a platform for his presidential bid, now needs a commanding majority in the National Assembly for him to implement the reforms he promised on the campaign trail.

A host of opinion polls show Macron's party could take around 30 percent of the first-round vote on Sunday, which would put it in pole position to secure an absolute majority in the second round a week later.

That could equate to as many as 400 seats in the 577-seat chamber.

"A wave or a tsunami?" asked the front page of the leftwing daily Liberation on Saturday.

REM has already had a boost after its candidates came first in 10 of the 11 French overseas constituencies that have already voted.

The legislative elections are, like the presidential contest, held over two rounds.

If no candidate wins over 50 percent in the first round, the two top-placed go into the second round -- as well as any candidate who won the votes of over 12.5 percent of the electorate.