The left turns green. The right resists. The majority misses the ballot. The National Gathering consoles in Perpignan. Sunday evening, at the end of municipal elections marked by the coronavirus crisis, the French political landscape experienced one of these upheavals that mark the fundamental movements. Except for one nuance, the very high level of abstention casts doubt on the long-term persistence of these new power struggles in the country. A doubt that Emmanuel Macron pointed out Sunday evening by letting it be known that he was “Concerned about the low turnout” municipal.
Great winners of the municipal elections, the environmentalists won highly symbolic victories in Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. A green wave that also submerges smaller cities like Annecy, Poitiers or Besançon. As if voters, tired of the powerlessness of national policies to fight global warming, now trust the local level. Shortly after the results, EELV MEP Yannick Jadot, who does not hide his presidential ambitions, hailed the victory of“Hope around a beautiful project” ecologist in several cities.
See also – Grégory Doucet (EELV) elected in Lyon: “A historic moment”
In any case, this is a green push that upsets the balance of power on the left, where the PS sees itself frontally contesting the hegemony it had exercised until then to organize the rally around it. Despite some victories as in Nancy, despite the conservation of several of their bastions – Paris, Nantes, Rennes, Dijon -, the socialists see the number of its local elected representatives crumble a little more. As a symbol, Martine Aubry was only re-elected a hair in Lille opposite the environmental candidate, Stéphane Baly. “It is another face of the left which appears with these municipal elections”, acknowledged PS MP Boris Vallaud.
LREM does not win any major city and appears to have been overtaken by the old world everywhere in France
After the Greens, the other big winner of the evening is not a party, but a man. Edouard Philippe, who, after having carried out all the liberal reforms of the beginning of the quinquennium, after having faced the crisis of “yellow vests”, after having undergone repeated attacks by the opposition during the pension reform, sees the voters of Le Havre him trust again with 58.83% of the vote. A form of plebiscite, for the Prime Minister whose opinion hailed the attitude during the coronavirus crisis. And a snub addressed in hollow to the Head of State who hesitates to replace him in Matignon.
Because who says winner says loser: that of municipal elections is called Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic sees his party take a heavy defeat. LREM does not win any major city and appears to have been overtaken by the old world everywhere in France. “We are implementing our movement. It is a step for La République en Marche ”, said party boss Stanislas Guerini, acknowledging his defeat.
Mirror inverted
As in an inverted mirror, the National Rally won several important victories. Starting with Perpignan, who sees Louis Aliot elected with 53% of the vote. Marine Le Pen’s party also won several unexpected victories, enough to forget its defeats in Mantes-la-Ville and in the 7e Marseille area. “It is the end of the anti-republican front which consisted in making beat the RN only because it was the RN, assured Marine Le Pen, also deploring the abstention, a record of this election. I hope it is linked to the health crisis. ”
The attack is more direct on the right, where Bruno Retailleau directly accuses the head of state. “We cannot be satisfied with 60% abstention and take refuge behind the Covid crisis, assured Senator LR. There is a democratic crisis which Emmanuel Macron has accelerated. ” Because if the right resists, it too suffers from the high rate of abstention. If the second round does not bring him flamboyant victories, it still consecrates a good resistance from LR, while the party is under attack by Emmanuel Macron to divide it since the start of the quinquennium.
The Republicans even managed to seize Lorient, a socialist stronghold since 1965. “We are returning to victory”, rejoiced the president of the party, Christian Jacob when the senator Bruno Retailleau recalled on his side: “We had won the first round by a large margin.” What to look more serenely at the future. After the “Presidential and legislative failures. (…) This bodes well for the senatorial, but also departmental and regional elections to come.»
See also – “With this green wave, what can Emmanuel Macron do?”
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