Parties linked to France's Macron form coalition for parliament elections

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party has formed a coalition with two other centrist parties for the June parliament elections, LREM member and parliament chairman Richard Ferrand said ahead of a conference with the two parties.

LREM will coordinate which candidates it presents with the centrist Modem party, which supported Macron in the 2017 elections, and with the new Horizons party set up by Macron's former prime minister Edouard Philippe.

The agreement comes days after leftist and green parties made an alliance for the June 12-19 elections in the hope to block Macron's party from winning a majority in parliament following Macron's reelection as president.