The French have never been so unaffected
French President Emmanuel Macron leaves a polling station at a polling station
Source: DPA / Ludovic Marin
Marine Le Pen’s party failed to win a single region in regional elections in France. But the result is a disaster for President Emmanuel Macron as well. The strongest party in France is the non-voters.
IThere is one clear winner, many losers in French regional elections and it is certain that the fatigue of democracy cannot be repaired by immediate appeals or words of warning. The lesson of these elections is this: France’s strongest party is not the résumément nationale (RN), as party leader Marine Le Pen has repeatedly claimed, France’s strongest party is that of non-voters, who have sided with institutions and politicians. I have lost faith.
In the second round of voting, only one out of three eligible voters cast their vote; The turnout was only marginally higher than in the first round, which set a historic record.
This is a warning sign that the French President should take seriously. Emmanuel Macron promised to make politics attractive again. The opposite is the case. Citizens have never been so unaffected. The reshuffle of the government will not be enough as a signal.
Macron is also one of the clear losers in the election. As expected, his party La République en Marche (LREM) did not conquer a single region. The President sent a total of 15 ministers to the race, many of whom were eliminated in the first round. He imagined that he would at least break the scales. That hasn’t happened either.
Marine Le Pen is the big loser
However, the biggest loser is Marine Le Pen. He expected to conquer a field for the first time. After the first vote only the Provence-Alpes-Ctes d’Azur region was likely to win. It didn’t work either. The “Republican Protective Wall”, which is believed to have held many dead, was halted. For right-wing nationalists this is a very bad omen for the presidential election. Because the feathers that Le Pen had grown over the past few weeks were brutally cut on Sunday evening.
The clear winners of this election include the Conservatives, first and foremost, Javier Bertrand, who won more than half the vote in Le Pen’s stronghold in northern France (Hautes-de-France).
Marine Le Pen wanted to use the success in the South as a move to launch the fight for the presidential election in ten months.
Source: AP/Michelle Spingler
Bertrand, who has resigned from his LR party, took office as a Conservative presidential candidate on Sunday evening. With a fiery yellow vest speech addressed to all non-voters, he intends to attempt to drive voters away from Le Pen at the national level. He was successful in doing so in his field. But the Conservatives have not yet chosen a candidate. There is no natural owner. The beatings and beatings will start now.
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