Voters largely shunned the polls on Sunday in France for the second round of municipal elections, a ballot with national stakes marked by an environmentalist push and by a struggling presidential party in several large cities, despite the victory of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe .
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Between the start of the summer holidays, concerns still present over the health situation and an interminable campaign – three and a half months separated the two towers, coronavirus forces – abstention reached record levels, close to 60%.
Very soon after the first results, President Emmanuel Macron said he was “concerned about the low participation rate”.
The Republic on the March (LREM), the presidential party, is not in a position of strength in any big city.
But Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who had not endorsed the LREM label, easily won the election in the port city of Le Havre with 59% of the vote.
Well placed in several major cities in France, such as Lyon and Marseille whose results are expected later Sunday evening, environmentalists confirmed their good breakthrough in the first round, according to first estimates on Sunday.
In Lille, Stéphane Baly threatens the historic socialist mayor of this northern city, Martine Aubry. Poitiers (center) and Besançon (east), two medium-sized cities also turn green.
The far right, for its part, won the election in Perpignan, a Catalan city of more than 100,000 inhabitants, with the victory of Louis Aliot, the ex-companion of Marine le Pen.
Probably anxious to evacuate this cumbersome election as quickly as possible, Emmanuel Macron has already planned to speak on June 29. He will give his first responses to the proposals made by the Citizens’ Climate Convention, an assembly of 150 citizens drawn by lot to give color to direct democracy in the country.
Marked by abstention, this ballot will also remain like that of the coronavirus. After a first round organized at the time when the epidemic was sweeping over France, many precautions were taken for this second round. Mandatory mask, hydroalcoholic gel and physical distance were required for voting operations.
France, hard hit by the new coronavirus, has recorded more than 29,750 deaths since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic.
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