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Old 06-11-2017, 01:18 PM
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French Elections

"PARIS — When Emmanuel Macron was campaigning to become the president of France, he laid out an ambitious plan to overhaul what many said were untouchable pillars of the country — retirement benefits and employee protections, for example — in order to make the country more competitive.
When he won an upset victory and began choosing a cabinet to carry out his plan, many questioned whether Mr. Macron, 39, could ever come up with enough legislative candidates to pass his agenda. But he did, selecting a roster of newcomers to politics that included minorities and many women.
On Sunday, the French were voting in the first of two rounds for representatives to the National Assembly, the powerful lower house of the French Parliament. In essence, they are voting whether to back the man, his cabinet and his plan.
The participation rate at 5 p.m. local time, nearly 41 percent, was considerably lower than the turnout at the same time in the first round in 2012, when it was 48.3 percent, according to the Interior Ministry. It was even higher in 2007: 49.3 percent.
The polls close in three hours in major cities and earlier in the countryside.
What’s at stake
Mr. Macron needs an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly to have a clear path to enact his sweeping program. His party and an allied party that is running with his are fielding candidates in more than 400 districts.
If 289 or more from the president’s party are elected, he will have his majority. Any fewer would mean having to work with other parties, or worse. If another party were to obtain a majority, it could impose a new prime minister and government on Mr. Macron — seriously hampering his ability to carry out domestic changes.
However, if the polls are any measure, Mr. Macron’s party, La République en Marche!, is expected to win a comfortable majority.
His victory in the presidential race on May 7 decimated the establishment parties, the So************************ts and the Republicans.
Both the right and left will probably end up with small fractions of Mr. Macron’s total. The far-right National Front, the party of Marine Le Pen, Mr. Macron’s presidential runoff opponent, is predicted to gain more seats than it ever has before, but far fewer than its leaders had hoped. It may include one for Ms. Le Pen in the country’s far north.

The candidates
Mr. Macron’s party is fielding a large number of candidates who have never held political office and who work in either civil service or business.
In fact, with very few disqualifying conditions, any French citizen 18 or older can run for the National Assembly, the more powerful of the Parliament’s two chambers.
Candidates are elected directly by voters in France and the country’s overseas territories. A candidate does not have to live or vote in the district in which he or she is running. The ease of entry means that, over all, there are more than 7,800 candidates; in some districts, there are more than 17 vying for the seat. NY Times

continued here
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/11/w...av=region&_r=0

Should be interesting to see if the newly minted centrist President Macron wins a majority in the French parliament.

Vive la France! Vive Macron! (grin)
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