New generation of French MPs wait in the wings
French voters went to the polls on Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to hand a landslide victory to the party of President Emmanuel Macron, which would complete his stunning reset of national politics.
The new assembly is due to be transformed with a new generation of legislators — younger, more female and more ethnically diverse — winning seats in the afterglow of Macron’s success in May’s presidential election.
The scale of the change is forecast to be so large that some observers have compared the overhaul to 1958, the start of the present presidential system, or even the post-war rebirth of French democracy in 1945.
It is also entirely unexpected: Macron was unknown three years ago and initially given little chance of emerging as president, but he and his 15-monthold Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move) party have tapped into widespread desire for change.
And yet despite the zest for renewal, the vote has failed to generate much excitement.
Official statistics showed turnout at midday down more than three points over the last election in 2012 at 17.75%, revealing some election fatigue.
En Marche and its allies are forecast to win 400 to 470 seats in the 577-strong parliament, one of the biggest post-war majorities. Such a result would give the pro-EU Macron a free hand to implement his business-friendly programme.
Sunday’s voting is the decisive second round of the election. The first round last weekend was topped by En Marche but was also marked by low turnout.
If confirmed, En Marche’s crushing win will come at the expense of France’s traditional parties, the Socialists, the rightwing Republicans and the farright National Front, which faces major disappointment.
The Socialists are set to be the biggest victim of voters’ desire to reject establishment figures associated with high unemployment, social unrest and lost national confidence.
Pollsters predict the party will lose well over 200 seats after its five years in power under former president Francois Hollande, leaving it with only about 20.
“People are tired of always seeing the same faces,” said Natacha Dumay, a teacher voting in the northeastern Paris suburb of Pantin, where Socialist former justice minister Elisabeth Guigou was voted out a week ago. “Even if we don’t know the new faces it’s not important. We’re not voting for individuals but for a programme.”
About half of En Marche’s candidates are virtual unknowns drawn from diverse fields of academia, business and local activism. They include a mathematician, a bullfighter and a former Rwandan orphan.
The main concern for observers and critics is the likely absence of any political counterweight to Macron, leading some to forecast that opposition could be led through street protests or in the media. “Desperately seeking an opposition,” declared the front page of Saturday’s Le Parisien newspaper.
Turnout will be closely watched after it hit a nearly 60year low in the first round.