France goes back to the polls… or not

As France goes to the polls for the fourth time in three months – to elect its députés MPs for the Assemblée Nationale – an opinion poll has showed many people will not bother.

The second round of the legislative elections on Sunday is expected to be hit by a record 53% of abstentions – which should guarantee the impending landslide for President Macron’s La République en Marche party.

Although the poll, by Odoxa for Franceinfo, found that 58% of people felt such a landslide would be a ‘bad thing’, that did not stop 53% of left-wing voters, young people and working people saying they would not vote.

The first round, earlier this month, saw 51.29% abstentions and a similar verdict this time round will mean only a third of people voting for the majority.

This has brought calls for the introduction of proportional voting – with seven out of 10 polled saying they wanted proportional representation of some sort, a rise from the previous 62%.

The first round of the election has already seen some of the longest-serving MPs lose their seats and be replaced in the second round by political ‘unknowns’ from civil society by En Marche.

That will mean ‘unknown’ Marie Sara – a former bullfighter – will be waving a red rag to the Front National’s lone MP, Gilbert Collard, in the second constituency in Gard. Ms Sara even won support even from the socialist candidate in her fight to “put up the barricades against the Front National”.

Voters in Baugé, Maine-et-Loire, hope it will also mean another sight of 77-year-old local nun, Soeur Fabienne, heading to vote on a hoverboard... although she may opt for her motorbike and sidecar...

Results from the election will start to be known on Sunday evening after 20.00 in the 573 seats still to be settled after four were decided in the first round. Although, given the abstentions, this cartoon looks a bit over-optimistic...