THE SOCIALIST Party confirmed its dominance of French local politics yesterday, with preliminary results from the second round of cantonal elections showing it won 35 per cent of the vote.
With abstention estimated at a record 55 per cent, French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP was in second place, with 19 per cent, but the far-right Front National (FN) consolidated its strong showing in the first round by winning 10 per cent of the vote in the two-way play-offs.
Marine Le Pen’s FN made a significant breakthrough in the first round of voting when it came within two points of the UMP. The left called for a “Republican front” against the FN in the 394 cantons where the party qualified for the second round, but the UMP refused to tell its supporters to vote socialist.
The ballot, to elect members of local councils that control funds for schools, roads and other services, was the last electoral test before next year’s presidential election. Mr Sarkozy has been polling badly for the past two years and recent surveys suggested he could attract fewer votes than Ms Le Pen, who has managed to widen her party’s appeal since taking the leadership from her father Jean-Marie.
Reacting to results which showed other left-wing groups won almost 6 per cent of the vote, Socialist leader Martine Aubry pledged to “put all my energy into uniting the left” in order to win the next presidential election.
She said voters had “opened the door to change”.
Prime Minister François Fillon issued a statement downplaying the FN’s advance, saying that while the party’s score should not be “underestimated”, the final results would show it would wind up controlling very few councils. In a system that favours big parties and alliances, the FN was predicted to win just one.
“In a context made very difficult by two years of crisis, candidates of the right and centre resisted well. The left is progressing, but the decline in the [ruling] majority is less significant than predicted,” Mr Fillon said.
He said the FN would have to be fought and the reasons for its vote considered. “Its very low number of elected representatives shows, however, that a great majority of citizens, notably those who support the majority, refuse extremist solutions.”
According to widely reported comments made at a meeting of UMP parliamentarians last week, Mr Fillon said the party’s supporters should “vote against the Front National”. That put him at odds with Mr Sarkozy, who earlier suggested “voting neither FN nor PS” in the second round.