Far-right National Front (FN) lost on the second round of the regional elections after being the leading party on the first one. Republicans triumphed with the support of the left-wing voters.
Far-right FN, which came as the leading party in 6 regions out of 13 on the first round of the regional elections, failed to win a single region on the second round.
Marine Le Pen’s party got 40% of the votes on the first round in the regions they were up for election and they succeeded in maintaining their votes. However, left-wing voters voted for center-right Republicans and as a result, Republicans triumphed.
The turnout was 49% on the first round and it reached to 58.5% on the second round.
FN, which came as the leading party in 6 regions out of 13 on the first round of the regional elections, failed to win a single region on the second round.
Republicans, lead by Nicolas Sarkozy, won 7 regions, including Paris, Ile de France (the economic center of the country) and Rhône-Alpes.
Main opposition leader Sarkozy refused to ally with Socialist Party against far-right candidates. However, Prime Minister Manuel Valls withdrew their candidates and urged the socialist voters to vote for the Republicans.
Valls thanked their voters for preventing Le Pen from wining the elections. Valls said: “It is neither a victory nor a relief for us. We haven’t forgotten the votes that far-right party got on the first round. We keep struggling to dispense with this danger.”
