Story highlights Just 25.8% percent of French members of Parliament are are women

19,000 people applied to be a candidate for Macron's La Republique En Marche! party

Paris (CNN) The party of French President-elect Emmanuel Macron has unveiled the names of more than 400 candidates for the June legislative elections -- and half of them are women.

At 39, Macron will be sworn in on Sunday as the youngest president in France's history, and he has promised to breathe new life into French politics and the country's sluggish economy.

Macron's is now looking to get his fledgling La Republique En Marche! party a strong presence in Parliament to push through his legislative agenda.

On Thursday, En Marche! secretary general Richard Ferrand announced that 214 men and 214 women had been selected to run for the party -- and added that 52% of the candidates had never held electoral office.

The announcement appears to fulfill the party's pledge in January that at least half its candidates would come from outside the political establishment and that half would be women.

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