But people do not bother to vote – NRK Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

More than two months after the first round of the French presidential election, the French are still going to the polls.

Tomorrow, the second round of parliamentary elections will be held.

– The president is dependent on getting a governing majority to implement his policy, says Kjerstin Aukrust to NRK.

Aukrust is an associate professor of French literature and area knowledge at the University of Oslo.

Although the election determines how much power the president gets, less than half of the voting population participated in the first round. 52.49 percent abstained, according to France 24.

Aukrust says that it is not uncommon for low turnout in France.

– There is a trend seen in France over time, where participation has decreased almost every year, says Aukrust.

–

–

Macron absent

One of the reasons for the low turnout is a lack of trust in politicians, Aukrust says.

– One can talk about a democratic crisis in France. There is a great deal of skepticism towards the political elite. Most people do not trust politicians.

The parliamentary elections have not received much attention this year. The parties have not been as active in the election campaign as they are in the presidential election.

“People have hardly noticed that there are parliamentary elections,” says Aukrust.

In particular, the president, Emmanuel Macron, has been absent.

He has spent a lot of time abroad after being re-elected president in April.

–

–

Last week, he was in Kyiv visiting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The first round of elections was held on 12 June. Macron’s center-right alliance, Ensemble! received 25.8 percent of the vote.

While the alliance on the left, Nupes, received 25.7 percent.

Difficult for the outer parts

Both the presidential election and the parliamentary elections in France are what are called majority elections in one-man constituencies over two constituencies.

–

Two election grounds mean that the result of the election does not represent the will of the people to the same extent as, for example, in Norway. Parties without broad electoral alliances lose.

Marine Le Pen from the far-right National Assembly party received 41.45 percent of the vote in the second round.

Nevertheless, it is not expected that her party will receive the same with representatives in the parliamentary elections.

– In the last election in 2017, Le Pen received 35 percent of the vote in the presidential election, but ends up with 8 representatives out of 577 in the parliamentary election, says Aukrust.

–

–

The left is running in the parliamentary elections with a strong alliance. Something that just two months ago was unthinkable.

– It is quite revolutionary, says Aukrust about the alliance Nupes.

The left could win 150 to 200 seats in parliament, according to the BBC.

Despite the fact that in the presidential election in April, no one from the left advanced to the second round of elections.

– This electoral system means that one has to form alliances if one is to have any chance of getting a large number of representatives in the National Assembly. This has been understood on the left side this year, says Aukrust.

–

Related posts:

Munich: administrative judges temporarily overturn the 15-kilometer rule

Berlusconi hospitalized for coronavirus, the latest news of 9 September on his condition

thousands without being able to travel and millions without energy

Coronavirus Italy, the bulletin of today 26 September. Data and table - Chronicle