Low turnout a worry as Macron repeats big win
paris — French voters have put President Emmanuel Macron’s party on course for a crushing parliamentary majority, though a record low turnout in the first round of voting raised concerns on Monday over the strength of his future mandate.
Projections showed Macron continuing his centrist revolution, with his Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM) party and its ally MoDem tipped to win between 400 and 445 seats in the 577-member National Assembly in next Sunday’s second round.
Such a share would give Macron — who founded his party just a year ago — one of the biggest parliamentary majorities the modern French state has seen.
“France is back,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe declared triumphantly, calling the result a vote for the president’s “confidence, will and daring”.
But government spokesman Christophe Castaner admitted the 49 per cent turnout — the lowest for six decades in such a vote — was “a failure of this election” and that Macron’s team would need to reach out to those who stayed away.
Former prime minister Alain Juppe of the rightwing Republicans said the mass stayaway by voters was a sign of “deep malaise” in the electorate and that a clean sweep by Macron would be bad for democracy. “The stakes of the second round are clear,” said the Bordeaux mayor, calling for Republicans voters to turn out in force on Sunday. —
paris — French President Emmanuel Macron’s rivals on Monday warned against handing him an overwhelming majority that would stifle debate after his party cruised to victory in the opening round of elections to the National Assembly.
Macron’s year-old centrist Republic on the Move (REM) party and its allies are tipped to clean up in the 577-member lower house of parliament, winning up to 445 seats — a historic tally for a post-war president.
The opposition and French press expressed concern over what the left-wing Liberation daily called the “quasi-Stalinist result”.
The leader of the rightwing Republicans in the Paris area, Valerie Pecresse, appealed for a “civic surge”, warning of the risk of “groupthink”.
Record low turnout of 49 percent in Sunday’s first round detracted from the performance of Macron’s untested team, raising concerns over the strength of his mandate.
Government spokesman Christophe Castaner admitted that voter participation — the lowest for six decades — was “a failure of this election” and that Macron’s camp would need to reach out to those who stayed away.
Analyst Gael Sliman of Odoxa pollsters pinned the high abstention rate on voter fatigue after the presidential election and the apathy of those “who may not agree with Macron but do not want to block his path”. “It’s a muted, incomplete victory, because he does enjoy not the backing of a majority of the French people,” Sliman said. —