Regional elections in France, who (not) won

21 June 20213 years ago babelfish

In France, on Sunday 20 June, the regional and departmental elections were voted. Enrico Martial's point

In France, on Sunday 20 June, the curfew was lifted, and there was a vote in the regional and departmental elections. President Macron invited people to rediscover the carefree (insouciance), and the joy of living, to get out of a sad climate, full of uncertainties and disorientation, in the economy or in the health sector. On Sunday, voters largely did not go to vote, with abstention between 66.1% and 68.6%, an "abysmal" abstention, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said. Perhaps it was a renouncement of the anger hatched and cultivated in recent years and an apolitical return to one's own things and business, which also have to start again. The weak political weight of the Regions in France has further dampened the intentions to go to the polls.

So the numbers blew the predictions, the success of the Rassemblement National was not there, with strong falls compared to 2015. 24.37% voted it in the Hauts-de-France (Lille) compared to 40.55% of 2015 by Marine Le Pen then a candidate, 12.53% in the Pays de la Loire compared to 21.35% at the time. There was also no growth expected in the western regions, more hostile to the RN.

73% of the voters of the Rassemblement stayed at home, according to an IPSOS-Sopra Steria poll of 3,000 people. Macron's Repubbliche en Marche would instead have 60% of its voters absent from the polls, Les Republicains about 44%. Most of the absentees are under the age of 50, in which the RN finds 49% of its voters (23% in Macron's Marchers), with abstention rates of 18-24 years at 87%, and of 25-34 years 83%. 75% of workers and employees did not go to the polls, compared to 47% of retirees. The Rassemblement expected to win in at least five regions and was running for the presidency after the second round of perhaps three. At the moment it does not seem to have great possibilities, except perhaps in the Southern Region of Marseille, for reasons of lack of political agreements between the opponents.

With these small numbers, the effect was to reconfirm the outgoing presidents: in the Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, formerly Les Républicains and in the spirit of running for the presidency in 2022, won the first round with 41.39 % of the votes, and so in Ile-de-France, the Parisian region, the outgoing Valérie Pécresse wins. The Republican right of LR with the neighboring movements has confirmed its positions in the 7 regions it holds, and is the winning force of these abstention elections. The five regions with socialist colors confirmed past results, in which Carole Delga's 40% in Occitania should be emphasized, without the growth of the greens being able to consolidate within the coalitions on the left.

Macron's party, which had already renounced possible presidencies, will not even be able to influence the second round in most of the Regions, for not having exceeded the thresholds that would have allowed it to desist and make government agreements. La République en Marche always struggles to take root in the territory, with a clear break between the relative popularity of Macron and the territories. Even the presences of various ministers in the electoral competition (there were 5 in the Hauts-de-France) were of little use, especially where Paris and the national political circus are frowned upon.

The doubt remains in the South region, where the outgoing president of Les Republicains, with the support of La République en Marche, Renaud Muselier (31.91%) could win if a republican front was formed with the votes of the left. However, Jean-Laurent Felizia (16.89%) of the Greens (EELLV) announced that he will not retire and will participate in the second round, despite opposition from his party nationally, as well as from the socialist one and France Insoumise. Then the hopes return for the European parliamentarian and the Lepenian Thierry Mariani (36.38% of the votes), a particular character even in the extreme right, amid sympathy for Putin or China.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/elezioni-regionali-in-francia-chi-non-ha-vinto/ on Mon, 21 Jun 2021 08:25:54 +0000.