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ELECTION

Macron wins majority in French parliament but record abstention mars election

President Emmanuel Macron's Republique en Marche (REM) party were set to gain a massive majority in the French parliament, according to initial estimations on Sunday evening. However record abstention rate in the second round of the elections meant Macron's victory was slightly tarnished.

Published: 18 June 2017 21:24 CEST
Macron wins majority in French parliament but record abstention mars election
Photo: AFP

The initial results for the second round of France's parliamentary elections suggest Macron's REM party and its centrist allies Modem will gain something between 395 and 420 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

The winning margin is lower than forecast during the week when some estimates suggested Macron's Republic on the Move (REM) and its allies would secure as many as 470 seats.

Nevertheless that will be little consolation to his opponents as the result, if confirmed, would give 39-year-old Macron one of France's biggest post-war majorities, strengthening his hand in implementing his business-friendly, pro-EU programme.

Reacting to the results Macron's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said: “By a large majority the French people have chosen hope over anger, optimism over pessimism, confidence over decline.”

Philippe acknowledged however that “abstention is never good news for democracy”.

He said the government interpreted the low turn out as an “obligation to succeed”.

 (Image from BFM TV)

However, a long way behind in second place was the conservative Republicans party, who are set to win anything between 97 and 117 seats, according to initial results.

The Republicans hung on to between 97 and 130 seats, down from over 200 in the last parliament, and remain the main opposition party.

The party had enough seats to “defend its convictions”, said the party's leader for the elections, Francois Baroin, calling on Macron to heed the record-low turnout, which he said sent “a message”.

“The task he faces is immense,” he added.

The Socialist party and its leftist allies were forecast to win between 27 and 35 seats, a result that will be considered a disaster for the party that swept to power in 2012.

Party president Jean-Christophe Cambadelis immediately resigned after recognizing the party had suffered a crushing defeat.

“The rout of the Socialist Party is undeniable,” he said.

Jean-Luc Mélénchon's France Insoumise  (France unbowed) were set to win between 12 and 17 seats. Mélénchon himself was expected to have been elected to the parliament after winning the battle for the seat in Marseille.

The far right National Front led by Marine Le Pen between four and six seats.

Le Pen herself was one of those elected after results said she won the seat she was fighting for in northern France. Her party and National Front party deputy Louis Aliot also announced victory in the constituency he was standing in south western France.

Marine Le Pen wins seat in French parliament for first time

These initial predictions will change throughout the night as the results comes in.

However many will say Macron's crushing victory is somewhat undermined by the record low turn out. The abstention rate was expected to hit 58 percent, giving his critics grounds to claim he has no groundswell of support.

The Assembly is set to be transformed with a new generation of lawmakers — younger, more ethnically diverse and with far more women than the outgoing parliament.

The scale of the change is forecast to be so large that some observers have compared the overhaul to 1958, the start of the present presidential system, or even the post-war rebirth of French democracy in 1945.

UPDATES to follow

 

ELECTION

German Greens’ chancellor candidate Baerbock targeted by fake news

With Germany's Green party leading the polls ahead of September's general elections, the ecologists' would-be successor to Angela Merkel has become increasingly targeted by internet trolls and fake news in recent weeks.

Published: 29 April 2021 09:13 CEST
German Greens' chancellor candidate Baerbock targeted by fake news
The Greens chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock on April 26th. Photo: DPA

From wild claims about CO2-emitting cats and dogs to George Soros photo collages, 40-year-old Annalena Baerbock has been the subject of a dizzying array of fake news, conspiracy theories and online attacks since she was announced as the Greens’ chancellor candidate in mid-April.

The latest polls have the Greens either ahead of or level with Merkel’s ruling conservatives, as the once fringe party further establishes itself as a leading electoral force in Europe’s biggest economy.

Baerbock herself also consistently polls higher than her conservative and centre-left rivals in the race to succeed Merkel, who will leave office after 16 years this autumn.

Yet her popularity has also brought about unwanted attention and a glut of fake news stories aimed at discrediting Baerbock as she bids to become Germany’s first Green chancellor.

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False claims

Among the false stories circulating about Baerbock is the bizarre claim that she wants to ban household pets in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Another fake story firmly denied by the party claimed that she defied rules on mask-wearing and social-distancing by embracing colleagues upon her nomination earlier this month.

Baerbock has also been presented as a “model student” of Hungarian billionaire George Soros – a hate figure for the European far-right and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists – in a mocked-up social media graphic shared among others by a far-right MP.

More serious online attacks include a purported photo of Baerbock which in fact shows a similar-looking naked model.

The Greens’ campaign manager Michael Kellner said that the attempts to discredit Baerbock had “taken on a new dimension”, that “women are targeted more heavily by online attacks than men, and that is also true of our candidate”.

Greens co-leader Annalena Baerbock earlier this month. Photo: DPA

Other false claims about the party include reports of a proposed ban on barbecues, as well as plans to disarm the police and enforce the teaching of the Quran in schools.

While such reports are patently absurd, they are potentially damaging to Baerbock and her party as they bid to spring a surprise victory in September.

“She has a very real chance, but the coming weeks are going to be very important because Baerbock’s public image is still taking shape,” Thorsten Faas, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University told AFP.

In a bid to fight back against the flood of false information, the party has launched a new “online fire service” to report fake news stories.

READ ALSO: Greens become ‘most popular political party’ in Germany

Russian disinformation

Yet stemming the tide is no easy job, with many of those who peddle disinformation now using private messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram rather than public platforms such as Facebook.

The pandemic and ongoing restrictions on public life will also make it harder for the campaign to push through their own narratives at public events.

Miro Dittrich of Germany’s Amadeu-Antonio anti-racism foundation claims that lockdown has “played a role” in the spread of fake news.

“People are isolated from their social environment and are spending a lot more time online,” he said.

Another factor is Russia, which has made Germany a primary target of its efforts to spread disinformation in Europe.

According to the European anti-disinformation platform EUvsDisinfo, Germany has been the target of 700 Russian disinformation cases since 2015, compared to 300 aimed at France and 170 at Italy.

As an outspoken critic of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, Baerbock may well become a target of such attacks during the election campaign.

By Mathieu FOULKES

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