The unprecedented turnout of the French people in the first round of the regional elections has been interpreted as a “no big deal” between the two main parties and a sign of the crisis of democracy in the country. By not participating in recent elections French people have made it clear that they don’t trust their ruling system.
The first round of regional elections in France, which took place on Sunday to determine the members of the 12 district councils located in the main part of France, the members of the Council of the Isle of Cres and the four overseas regions, as well as 96 French departments (units of French divisions). Voters are confronted, and preliminary statistics show that between 66 and 68 percent of voters ignored it, and showed they don’t want this political system anymore.
The vote, which resulted in a heavy and unexpected defeat for Emmanuel Macron (La Repubblica’s Marsh) and the far-right National Unity Party led by Marine Le Pen, in addition to its importance to local decision-making. For many experts, it was seen and pursued as the antithesis of the upcoming presidential election, which is scheduled to take place in less than a year.
The experts and analysts had hoped that the current regional election would provide them with an initial picture of Macron and Marine Le Pen’s race in next year’s election, but now they are focusing on explaining the reasons for the declining turnout.
In the previous round of elections held in 2015, 49.1% of eligible voters cast their ballots. The 2010 election saw 49.37 percent of the vote, and the 2004 election saw more than 43 percent go to the polls. Only 32 to 34 percent of eligible voters went to the polls this year.
A combination of factors suggests that the decline in participants was not related to the prevalence of coronavirus. In a poll conducted by the IFOP polling center, only 17% of respondents said Corona was involved in their decision not to vote. On the other hand, turnout in elections in Italy, Germany and the Netherlands over the past 12 months has been close to normal.
A Macron party MP in the French parliament compared the turnout to a slap in the face by a government protester two weeks ago, describing voter violence at the polls as “a democratic slap in the face for all of us.”
Marin Le Pen also called the voter turnout a “civil disaster” and blamed the Macron administration for failing to build political trust among voters. “Let’s face it,” he said. In an unprecedented event, nearly 70 percent [of voters] refused to participate due to distrust of the electoral system. “This distrust has made voters feel that nothing can be changed and that everything has been looted.”
In this regard, the Politico website has called the current elections a sign of the sickness of French democracy and the low turnout in it, causing serious concerns. “For polling stations and political scientists, the unprecedented turn [of the ballot box in France] is seen as a warning sign of a crisis of unpreparedness (by politicians) and a crisis of democratic indifference, and Macron’s policies of eliminating traditional sectarianism,” the paper writes. “And the left, which used to mobilize voters, has made it worse.”
“French democracy is sick,” said Emmanuel Riveri, a member of the Cantar polling center. “It has become so difficult to distinguish between the political options ahead that it has given the impression that political life is a kind of superficial theater in which politicians are more concerned with being elected than concerned with resolving issues that matter to voters.”
