Macron loses majority in parliament as French democracy crumbles

According to preliminary estimates, only 46% voted in the parliamentary elections today. In last year’s regional elections, 34 percent of French people voted. And last year only 42% had voted in the municipal elections. “The French have had enough of democracy,” said political commentator Solenn de Royer.

minority head

That’s why less than half of regular French people make the effort to go to the polls. And only a fraction of those voters vote for the winner.

Take Emmanuel Macron. In the presidential election on April 24, there were more than 48 million voters. Of these, only 35 million (72%). Of these, 32 million (65%) were valid.

Of these 32 million valid votes, more than 18 million went to Macron. This represents 58% of the valid votes, but only 38.5% of all French voters. So a minority.

Only the winner gets a seat

Another problem arises in parliamentary elections: the electoral district votes. There are 577 of them and only the winner from each constituency sits in parliament. As a result, a party may score very high nationally, but not the largest in a constituency. This party will not occupy any seats.

In the first round of parliamentary elections held a week ago, Macron’s coalition and the left-wing opposition won more than 25% of the vote. But in the House of Representatives, Macron now gets 245 seats and the left “only” 131.

Marine Le Pen’s party received only slightly fewer votes than Macron and the left: 18%. But it can only seat 89. Therefore, the electoral behavior of the voters is not reflected in the French parliament. For example, the president himself was elected by a minority of French voters. This fuels distrust in politics. There is even indifference.

The good news: The French may have had enough of democracy, but they are not anti-democracy. “The French are still committed to the democratic electoral system, but they no longer believe it produces many results,” political scientist Cautrès said during a major poll on voter confidence.

Source: NOS

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