Paris (AFP)
The political class as a whole deplored Sunday evening the record abstention which marked the first round of the regional and departmental elections, the opposition by attributing the responsibility to the executive.
Just seconds after 8 p.m., the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin reported on Twitter a level of abstention, between 66.1% and 68.6% according to the estimates of polling institutes, "particularly worrying" .
"Our collective work must be focused on mobilizing the French for the second round", scheduled for next Sunday, he added.
Invited on France 2, the Minister Delegate for Citizenship Marlène Schiappa considered that this abstention invited "everyone to a form of humility".
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal, for his part, spoke of an "abysmal" abstention.
The fault of the government, replied in chorus the boss of the Republicans (LR) Christian Jacob and the leader of rebellious France (LFI) Jean-Luc Mélenchon who did not mince their words.
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The executive "has an enormous responsibility", denounced the first on TF1, deeming "unworthy of a great democracy" the quack in the distribution of electoral propaganda which in certain regions was not made.
"The government has a responsibility", echoed Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Twitter, pinning a "bad organization: sometimes the professions of faith which do not arrive, sometimes the ballots not present in the polling stations."
"To those who could be satisfied with this situation, I would remind you that a democracy without a voter is not a democracy," added Mr. Mélenchon, calling for a commission of inquiry into the conditions in which the vote took place. .
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Ecologists side, the MEP EELV Yannick Jadot worried about a "form of schism which settles", according to him, "between the political class and the French and the French."
On France 2, the ecologist explained the strong abstention by "an incredible incomprehension of what our communities are today".
The former number two of the National Rally (RN) and mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot also estimated that beyond the results "the biggest concern" remained "abstention".
Regarding the first results, which give the right largely in the lead, the RN in decline and sign a disappointment for the presidential majority, Christian Jacob was delighted that LR is "by far the party which collects the most votes".
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In the Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, who arrived clearly in front of the RN candidate Sébastien Chenu, for his part congratulated himself on having managed to "loosen to break the jaws of the FN, their demagogy, their sterile proposals , their intolerance ".
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