A week ago, fear was tangible as France's far-right Front National party won an unprecedented 2 provinces in the nation's first elections since the Paris terror attacks. With 40% of the votes, Marine Le Pen's party dominated the mainstream political parties [3] and status quo maintainers were beginning to quake. Now, a week later, with turnout surging from 50% to 59%, Front National has been "routed" according to AP, failing to win any regions.
[4]
- *FRENCH NATIONAL FRONT FAILS TO WIN ANY REGIONS IN ELECTION
- *FRENCH VOTER TURNOUT RISES TO ABOUT 59% VS ABOUT 50% LAST WEEK
As voters cast their ballots in the second-round runoff, Le Pen’s party is hobbled by a lack of allies from which it can draw fresh support. France’s two main parties are even working together in some districts to keep Le Pen out of power.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls, a Socialist like Hollande, said on Friday that he was “convinced” his party’s supporters would engage in tactical voting to defeat Le Pen. The Socialists pulled their party out of both races and it appears that many voters cast ballots to prevent the once-pariah National Front from gaining power.
Keep in mind: Front national was only defeated today because Socialists withdrew candidates qualified for run-off and let conservatives win.
— Mathieu von Rohr (@mathieuvonrohr) December 13, 2015 [5]
It appears to have worked, as AP reports, pollsters project France's far right is routed in regional elections after winning 1st round...
Three polling agencies are projecting that anti-immigrant National Front has been routed in regional election runoffs despite dominating the first-round vote.
Party leader Marine Le Pen and her niece lost their bids to run two French regions in elections Sunday seen as an important test for the anti-immigrant party.
Polling agencies Ipsos, Ifop, TNS-Sofres projected that the opposition conservatives and governing Socialists won control of France's 13 regions.
They showed Le Pen won around 42 percent of the vote in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, and rival conservative Xavier Bertrand about 57 percent.
Le Pen's niece, Marion Marechal-Le Pen, was projected to win about 45 percent in the southern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region. Conservative Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi was projected to win about 55 percent.
* * *
No Dark Blue FN wins...
[6]
