Paris (AFP)
Against a background of record abstention in a freshly deconfined France, the large bonus for leavers resulting from the first round of regional elections, like the results of Xavier Bertrand or Valérie Pécresse, gave Sunday looks of discomfiture to the scores of the RN of Marine Le Pen and the macronie.
XAVIER BERTRAND. The boss of Hauts-de-France is well ahead in the 4th region of France and should logically win next Sunday. The ex-minister of Nicolas Sarkozy and declared candidate for the presidential election of 2022 had dramatized the stakes of the ballot by announcing that he would give up running for the supreme office if he was beaten. He is about to win his bet. Elected thanks to a Republican front against Marine Le Pen in 2015, he knocks out, with 39% and 46.9% of the vote according to estimates, one of the lieutenants of the president of the RN, Sébastien Chenu (by 22.5% at 24.4%). The LREM candidate Laurent Pietraszewski, despite the support of the media keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupond-Moretti, does not even qualify for the second round. A success across the board for Mr. Bertrand.
THE BONUS TO LEAVE. Laurent Wauquiez (LR) in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Xavier Bertrand (ex-LR) in Hauts-de-France, Carole Delga (PS) in Occitanie, Jean Rottner (LR) in Grand Est, Valérie Pécresse (Free! ) in Île-de-France or Alain Rousset (PS) in New Aquitaine. The outgoing presidents of these regional executives, often on the front line during the health crisis, are far behind their rivals and should be re-elected at the end of the second round. A bonus for graduates against a background of massive abstention. The weight of local networks and electoral clienteles cultivated by its local barons will undoubtedly have played a determining role. Even in regions like Center Val-de-Loire or Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, where they were poorly elected in the last election and despite worrying polls,the outgoing PS François Bonneau and Marie-Guite Dufay saw the lead, even if the second round remained uncertain.
MARINE LE PEN. Leading in the first round in six regions in 2015 with 28% of the votes cast, the RN of Marine Le Pen does not repeat such a feat. Quite the contrary. Credited with flattering scores by the polls, the far-right formation does not turn in the lead in any region, except perhaps Paca where Thierry Mariani is neck and neck with the outgoing Renaud Muselier, yet weakened by dissensions at LR due to a first round deal with the "walkers". Elsewhere, the score of RN candidates takes on the appearance of a cold shower, even of rout: Sébastien Chenu, in Hauts-de-France, is far from the 40.46% collected by Marine Le Pen in 2015. In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , Andréa Kotarac arrives in third position, a poor performance. Impatient to see the "dynamics"around its lists during the ballot, the president of the RN will have had difficulty in drawing grounds for satisfaction.
# photo1
LREM. The majority did not expect much from the ballot, except to take on the role of kingmaker. Wasted effort. In Hauts-de-France, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the LREM candidates will not be able to stay in view of the second round. Despite the presence of five ministers on his list including Eric Dupond-Moretti and Gérald Darmanin, Laurent Pietraszewski was swept away in the first round (between 7.3% and 9.1%). The only region where LREM and its partners could really weigh is Bourgogne-Franche-Comté where outgoing PS Marie-Guite Dufay is about three points ahead of RN Julien Odoul and just under 6% of LR Gilles Platret. In Pays de la Loire, the choices of the head of the LREM list François de Rugy arealso announce decisive factors for a possible re-election of Christelle Morancais (LR) in the face of a possible union of the left lists. In Brittany, the fratricidal war between heirs of the former boss of the region and Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian turned in favor of the outgoing PS Loïg Chesnais-Girard, at the expense of the list led by Thierry Burlot (LREM / MoDem / UDI).
© 2021 AFP