The French 2014 Municipal Elections: A Left That is Bruised by the Rise of the Blues
Despite
maintaining the control in Lyon and in Paris with Anna Hidalgo as the first
female mayor of the capital, the second round of voting in the nationwide municipal
elections left the Socialists (PS) with devastating losses on 30th
March. However, the opposition (UMP), which has a history of losing during the
municipal elections saw a big rise in popularity, not to mention the
accompanying unprecedented rise of the Front National (FN), led by Marine Le
Pen, who secured 1200 municipal council seats. The PS lost the control of 155
towns and cities in France, including ones that were long-lasting Socialist
supporters. UMP leader Jean-François Copé described the success of his party
as a “blue wave”, gaining power in keys cities such as Limoges, Quimper, Reims,
Roubaix, Toulouse and Tourcoing[1],
which had been left wing since 1912.
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François Hollande |
With
abstentions breaking the records, the Socialists and other left wing parties won
40% of the results while 46% was given to the combined mainstream right (572
mayors for the right and 349 for the left, in towns with populations of over
10,000).[2]
Claiming
a breakthrough with the acquisition of a total of 11 cities, it is thought that
the success of the FN could well mean the party finds itself at the top of the
elections in the upcoming European Parliament elections in May. According to El Pais, National Front voters are made
up of people from all sections of society, immigrants included.[3] The
FN’s biggest win was the 7th district of France’s third largest
city, Marseille, of which 150,000 of its population is racially-mixed. This is
because more French citizens have placed their trust in the hands of the FN due
to their concerns on immigration, free trade, unemployment (affecting four
million people in the country) and low earning as well as the power of the EU.[4] The
rise of support for the National Front symbolises deep discomfort. Le Pen’s
anti-liberal and anti-European message seems to have appealed to people’s
worries. Those fearing the FN say that it can only be hoped that the “hard
blow” in France will function as a severe lesson against the excesses of
imprudence during the last 20 years in Europe, expecting the EU to take note of
the “severity” that comes with the extreme right becoming a leading populist
party in France.
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Marine Le Pen |
With
regards to the Socialists, we can perhaps say that voters wanted to send a
message to the president and punish his government because of their lack of
satisfaction with his policies since he came to office in 2012. This further
increase of discontent among citizens, which did not come as a surprise with
the low popularity of François Hollande and his government, led to a sudden
change of Prime Minister, with ex-interior minister Manuel Valls replacing
Jean-Marc Ayrault following his resignation on 31st March. Will the nation’s favourite politician according to the opinion polls
help the population regain its trust in François Hollande?
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New Prime Minister, Manuel Valls |
The
new “fighting” government will not only have to face the fresh electoral
difficulty at European polls in the next month but prior to this, France must present
its spending plans and the public deficit to the European Commission in
Brussels this week. It has promised €50 billion of savings from public spending
in 2015-2017.[5]
European partners are waiting to see whether these local election results will
affect Hollande’s economic course or whether he will maintain his policies
until the next presidential elections in 2017.
[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26807739
[2] http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/03/frances-local-elections-0
[3] http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/04/01/inenglish/1396360452_471350.html
[4] http://www.euronews.com/2014/03/31/french-blues-conservatives-win-elections-far-right-gains-left-lies-bruised/
[5] http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/03/frances-local-elections-0
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