The second round of French municipal elections takes place this Sunday throughout France.
This second round is organized with exceptional health precautions due to the Covid-19 epidemic: wearing of a mandatory mask at polling stations, hydroalcoholic gel and priority for vulnerable people to vote.
The suspense is strong in some of the largest cities – Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Lille … -, mainly under the thrust of environmentalists. In Le Havre, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who voted at 8:15 a.m., is also playing a role in Matignon.
These municipal elections are held on the eve of a crucial sequence for President Emmanuel Macron, who voted around noon in Le Touquet before treating himself to a crowd, without a mask. The head of state could, in the coming days, carry out a reshuffle and specify his stated intention of “reinventing himself” for the last two years of his mandate. As of Monday, he receives members of the Citizens’ Climate Convention at the Elysée Palace.
Big cities in the balance
Unlike other major cities, uncertainty is low in Paris, where outgoing Anne Hidalgo (PS) contained its EELV partners in the first round by endorsing a resolutely green program itself. With around 44% of voting intentions, it is well ahead of its competitors LR Rachida Dati and LREM Agnès Buzyn.
For La République en Marche, the day of the vote is that of the end of the ordeal: few of its candidates are well placed and the low-cost campaign has hardly allowed them to make themselves known.
In Le Havre, Edouard Philippe is credited with 53% of voting intentions (Ifop). But the importance of the stake can mobilize the abstainers of the first round.
Right and left to confirm, the Greens to break through
Very weakened at the national level, the Socialist Party and The Republicans have recovered their health locally. The PS is able to keep its bastions – Paris, Nantes, Rennes, Dijon – and should return to the level it was in after the loss of very many cities in 2014.
The Republicans confirmed their establishment by winning in the first round many of the cities with more than 9,000 inhabitants they controlled. But a defeat in Marseille, which the right has held for 25 years, or in Toulouse, the fourth city of France, would have a strong political resonance.
Among the major challenges of this election: the EELV candidates, driven by the environmentalist wave, are targeting several large cities, including Grenoble, Lyon, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Besançon. For the Greens, who have long served as an auxiliary force, it is also a question of asserting themselves as the first on the left before the next electoral deadlines.
In Marseille, the second largest city in France, the left created surprise by taking the lead in the first round with the Marseille Printemps coalition, followed by Martine Vassal (LR) who was dubbed by outgoing Jean-Claude Gaudin.
Emmanuel Macron’s main opponent at the national level, the Rassemblement national transfers its hopes to Perpignan after a mixed first round. If successful, it would be the first city of more than 100,000 inhabitants controlled by the party since 1995.
“It’s a turning point … this time it’s going to be very fair,” predicts Karim, 59, a former PS activist, dreadlocks and a red t-shirt struck with his first name.
The municipal councilors, elected for six years, will then meet from Friday 3 to Sunday 5 July to elect the mayors and their assistants.
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