video transcript

French President Francois Hollande's Socialists win an absolute parliamentary majority Sunday. Analysts say the results will strengthen his hand as he presses Germany to support debt-laden euro zone states hit by austerity cuts and ailing banks. Supporters in Paris cheered the results came in. (SOUNDBITE) (French) SOCIALIST SUPPORTER SAMI RICHEBE SAYING: "The only thing I feel is joy, we are continuing what we started, now the left is everywhere: in the Senate, in the National Assembly, the left has won and I'm really happy with all the work that's been done." The left-wing triumph gives the Socialists more power than they have ever held as Hollande pushes for new tools to stimulate growth. The far-right anti-immigration National Front achieved a breakthrough, winning its first parliamentary seats since the late-1980s. Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters