France, Macron-Le Pen flop: record abstentions, republicans and socialists fly

by time news

New setback for Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the French regional elections, marked by a very strong abstention (over 66%). Instead, Les Republicains (LR) and the Socialist Party fly together with the allies. Rassemblement National (Rn) of the ultra-nationalist leader who aims for the Elysée has not conquered even a region among those in question.

The eyes were on the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Paca), which includes Marseille and Nice, where polls predicted a close fight between former ‘brothers’: Rn’s candidate, Thierry Mariani (formerly Les Republicains), against the the exponent of LR, Renaud Muselier, was the winner, with the exit polls that give him 56-57% of the votes. To help him, the withdrawal of leftist candidates, a revival of the ‘Republican Front’ already seen in the presidential elections of the past to block the far right. It was “the logic of unity” that won, Muselier rejoiced; all the fault of “unnatural alliances”, complained Le Pen, stressing that “mobilization is the key” to future victories.

Even in the Ile-de-France region the very young candidate of Rn, Jordan Bardella, rising star of the party, could not do anything in front of the conservative candidate Valerie Pecresse. Flop also for the party of President Emmanuel Macron: failed to win in none of the 13 regions at stake and stops at 7% of the votes nationwide, a clear sign of the lack of roots in the territory for the ‘creature’ of the head of the Elysée, with whom he conquered the political scene in 2017.

As the general delegate of la Republique en Marche (LRem), Stanislas Guerini pointed out, it is “a disappointment for the presidential majority”. Cheering is the heavyweight of the right, Xavier Bertrand, confirmed by the exit polls to lead the Hauts-de-France; a victory that allows him to strengthen his credibility as candidate for the Elysée: “This result gives me the strength to go out and meet all the French”, he commented. The left front is also satisfied, with the socialists (PS) who in various regions have allied themselves with ecologists (Eelv) and the far left of Insoumis. “There is a left that is regaining space”, argued the national secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, looking at his party as a “driving force” that must “bring together all the left and environmentalists to be able to go towards the presidential elections “.

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