PRESS RELEASE
In Legislative Elections, France Favors Macron
PARIS, June 12, 2017 (Nouvelle Solidarité)—The first round of the French legislative elections, confirmed a massive victory for the party of Emmanuel Macron who, together with his allies of the centrist MoDem, garnered 32.2% of the vote. The other parties were punished to much lower scores by a population fed up with all the known politicians. In second place came the traditional right wing, Les Républicains with 18.8%, and third Marine Le Pen’s Front National reduced from its 32% in the second round of the presidential elections to only 13.2% in the legislatives. Fourth was Mélenchon and his France Insoumise (the French countepart of Germany's Die Linke party), also reduced from its 19% in the presidential elections to only 11% yesterday, and the Socialist Party cut down to 7.44%!
However, this is only a massive victory for the people who voted, because the party of abstentionism was the strongest of all: 51% of the French people didn’t vote, a record since 1958 and 7 points higher than abstentions in 2012. Clearly the French people, exasperated by what they view as the overall decline of the country, decide to kick out the incumbents, and go for the new and young Macron.
The massive victory of the Macron party still has to be confirmed on June 18, in the second round. A bigger participation could change things somewhat but not fundamentally. As it is, the projections are that Macron and his allies would get a whopping 400-470 seats in the National Assembly; Les Républicains, 70-130; Mélenchon and the PCF (2.8%) could perhaps form a "group" of 10-15; the Front National, 1-5 seats; the Socialist Party, 15-40 seats. Le Pen’s seats are low because despite their 13.2% (more than Mélenchon), they are still demonized so the left and the right have an agreement to switch one another, if necessary to stop Le Pen from winning a race.
