FRANCE : VOTERS DESERT SOCIALISTS BUT BACK FN !

 

The results of the first round of voting in the Regional Elections yesterday confirmed all previous election trends and Opinion Polls.

 

The extreme right wing National Front (FN) polled most votes, at the expense of the governing Socialist Party, which was pushed back into 3rd place overall.   The new formation on the Right, the Republicans, led by Nicolas Sarkozy, remained in second place.

 

The Socialists and the Republicans both had one and the same desperate objective in this election :  stop the FN from gaining a bigger share of the votes !  Together they failed lamentably, even though no holds were barred !   Both Parties tried to strike fear into the hearts of voters of what could happen if FN was elected to govern in the Regions, but they offered no alternative policies to back their own credibility.

 

Prime Minister Valls wants tactical voting (worst placed party withdraws its candidate) with the Republicans in the second round next Sunday, but Sarkozy has bluntly refused to entertain this idea.   This seems to leave the way open for a resounding victory by FN.

 

After the second round next Sunday, there are no other major elections before the Presidential Election in May 2017.  Marine Le Pen, Leader of FN is generally forecast to be one of the two Candidates in the run-off, perhaps to become the first woman President of France ! 

Another nightmare for the traditional Parties !

                                                                           .