Great success of the Greens, reconfirmation in Paris for the outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo and disappointment of the République en Marche, Macron's party, which is consoled only by the victory of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in Le Havre. This is the summary of the results of the elections in France, where on Sunday 28 June there was a ballot in 4820 municipalities. Above all, abstention triumphed, reaching as high as 60%, a figure for which Macron said he was "very worried".
THE VICTORY OF THE ECOLOGISTS
The ecologists of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) conquer Bordeaux (Pierre Hurmic), Marseille (Michèle Rubirola), Strasbourg (Jeanne Barseghian), Poitiers (Léonore Moncond'huy), Besançon (Anne Vignot) and Tours (Emmanuel Denis). With Grégory Doucet, the Greens also won in Lyon, France's third largest city, considered a stronghold of macronism. "What has won tonight is the desire for a concrete ecology, an ecology in action," underlined Yannick Jadot, secretary of EELV and MEP.
PARIS
In the capital, outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo, supported by a broad alliance that also includes the Greens, was reconfirmed with over 50%, beating Rachida Dati (right) and Agnès Buzyn (LREM).
THE DEFEAT OF MACRON
La République en Marche, a party founded four years ago by French President Emmanuel Macron, has lost virtually everywhere. The only one to emerge victorious from this second round was Prime Minister Eduard Philippe who (clearly) defeated the communist candidate Jean-Paul Lecoq in Le Havre. Paradoxically, however, for Macron his victory represents an additional problem: now it will be necessary to decide whether Philippe will continue to fill his role as head of government or whether he will have to move to Normandy to lead his town hall.
From a political point of view, the President of the Republic has already run for cover, affirming his desire to "Put ecology at the center of the economy to produce differently". Macron also announced that he will forward to Parliament or the Government “all the proposals that emerged during the Convention Cityonne pour le Climat. Some, of an administrative nature, will already be decided at the end of July, others included in the recovery plan, but most will fall within "a specific bill". An additional 15 billion euros will be allocated over two years to facilitate the ecological transformation.
THE RIGHT
Rassemblement National, Marine Le Pen's party, did not make it big, but still managed to conquer Perignan with the success of Louis Aliot, former companion of Marine Le Pen, who obtained almost 53% of the vote.
THE VOTE IN POLAND
On Sunday 28 June there was also voting in Poland where the presidential elections were held. According to the exit polls, none of the candidates exceeded 50% of the votes and therefore on July 12 there will be a run-off between the two candidates with the most votes.
The outgoing president Andrzej Duda, officially independent but linked to the radical right-wing party Law and Justice (PiS), and Rafał Trzaskowski, a member of the Civic Platform, a centre-right liberal party, will challenge each other. The former obtained just over 41% of the votes, the latter 30,4%. The favorite therefore remains Duda, but in the next few days Trzaskowski could collect the endorsements of the progressive Catholic television journalist Szymon Holownia (13%) and of Wladyslaw Kosiniak Kamysz, of the Peasants' Party (2,6%).
Even in Poland, the data relating to the turnout has assumed enormous importance. What was surprising this time, however, was the large turnout in the vote: when the polls closed, the turnout was 62,9% (in 2015 it was 48,96%). A percentage that makes us understand what is at stake in Warsaw: on the one hand those who fear for democracy after the authoritarian tendencies recently touched by Duda, on the other those who believe in the sovereignty carried forward by the current government.
According to Donald Musk, former president of the EU Council, the choice that the Poles will have to make is the following: “truth versus falsehood, respect or contempt, pride or shame. No one can pretend they don't understand what's at stake anymore,” he wrote on Twitter.
