PARIS
French President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party suffered a major defeat in Sunday’s second round of municipal elections, held three months late due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the exit polls, candidates of Macron's La Republique En Marche (LREM) – Republic on the Move – lost in major cities such as Paris, Marseille, and Lyon.
Many analysts say that from now on, Macron – with his government shaken by its handling of the coronavirus outbreak – will focus more on the presidential elections set for 2022.
Around 60% of voters sat out the elections – a record high – versus only 37.87% in 2014.
Green wave
The country saw a green wave as the Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV) party won a number of victories in major cities including Lyon, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Poitiers, Tours, Annecy, Besancon, and Marseille.
Edouard Philippe, the current prime minister, was elected mayor of Le Havre in Normandy, northwestern France, with over 58% of the votes against the French Communist Party. Philippe will have to decide between staying premier or taking over as mayor.
But the center-right Republican Party (LR) was able to protect the municipalities it won in the last local elections. The LR also managed to win the mayor’s seat in Lorient, a post in Brittany held by the Socialist Party (PS) since 1965.
Anne Hidalgo re-elected Paris mayor
In Paris, the current mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced victory in her reelection bid with 49.3% of the votes, beating Republican Party (LR) candidate Rachida Dati.
Louis Aliot, the candidate of the National Rally (RN) – Marine Le Pen's far-right xenophobic party – won in the city of Perpignan, southern France, with a population of 121,000.
Mayor with Turkish background wins
Metin Yavuz, of Turkish descent, was elected mayor of Valenton, a commune in Paris’ southeastern suburbs.
According to unofficial results, Yavuz got 52.37% of the votes.
Controversial Sonia Krimi suffers major defeat
French lawmaker Sonia Krimi, known for her comments on the Armenian claims about 1915, suffered a major defeat in the elections.
Running from Macron’s LREM party, she won only 8.7% of the votes in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, in France’s northwest.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu last year criticized Krimi over her comments on the 1915 events at a seminar in Turkey.
"France is the last country to give Turkey lessons about genocide and history, because we didn’t forget what happened in Rwanda and Algeria. France needs to look into its own dark history," said Cavusoglu.
* Writing and contributions by Iclal Turan
