Time.news – The Gaullist right of The Republicans wins the first round of regional elections in France, while the far right of the National Gathering (Rn) collects a lower than expected result and loses almost 9 points compared to 2015. On the left they hold Socialists and Greens, while the mediocre result of La Republique En Marche confirms the lack of roots in the territory of the president’s party, Emmanuel Macron.
This is the picture that emerges from the still partial data that come from a vote marked by a record abstention, defined “worrying” by the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin. Above 66% of those entitled to vote deserted the polls, compared to 55% in 2010, a percentage to which the numerous inefficiencies reported at the polling stations, opened late or closed early due to lack of ballots or tellers, could have contributed .
Melenchon wants a commission of inquiry
The leader of the radical left of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Melenchon, he asked for a commission of inquiry into inefficiencies, defined as “unworthy of a great democracy” by the head of the Republicains, Christian Jacob.
The national figure sees Les Republicains first party at 27%, followed by Rn (19.3%), Socialists and allies (17.6%), Greens and allies (12.5%), En Marche and allies (11.2 %), La France Insoumise and allies (4.2%).
The region-by-region data, when the count is about 10%, see the center-right candidates in clear advantage in Ile-de-France, the region with Paris where the outgoing president Valerie Pecresse is at 36.4%, Upper France, Grand Est, Pays de la Loire, Auvergne-Rhône Alps and Normandy. Left-wing candidates, often backed by coalitions of Socialists and Greens, are in the lead in New Aquitaine, Brittany, Occitania, Center-Loire Valley and Burgundy-Franche-Comté. In Corsica the autonomist Gilles Simeoni is ahead, with 28%.
All eyes on Provence
All eyes are on, however Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the only French region where an exponent of the Rassemblement National (Rn), the formation of Marine Le Pen. When the count is at 10%, Rn’s candidate, Thierry Mariani, is given at 38.03% and continues to outpace Renaud Muselier (Les Republicains), given at 33.21%.
Marine Le Pen acknowledged the below-expected result and invited her readers to mobilize for a “second round revenge”, scheduled for June 27. Stanislas Guerini, executive chairman of En Marche, assured that Macron’s party “will assume its responsibilities” in the second round to ensure that the Rassemblement National does not conquer a single region.
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