French Parliamentary Elections: What to Watch For
By AURELIEN BREEDENJUNE 18, 2017
French voters will go to the polls on Sunday for the second round of important parliamentary elections, one week after President
Emmanuel Macron’s party dealt a blow to traditional establishment parties by gaining a commanding lead in the first round.
But after a strong showing in the first round by La République en Marche
and its centrist ally, the Mouvement Démocrate, when they gathered about 32 percent of the vote, polls predict they will secure upward of 400 seats: much more than the 289 needed for a majority.
A higher turnout would give La République en Marche a stronger mandate in the National Assembly,
but turnout could remain low if voters opposed to Mr. Macron are discouraged enough to stay home, or even if those favorable to him think the results are a foregone conclusion.
Mr. Macron’s party, La République en Marche (The Republic on the Move), is on track to win an outright majority
of seats, which would put the 39-year-old president in a strong position to enact his pro-business agenda.
Under French law, parties that do not field at least 50 percent of female candidates in the legislative elections are fined,
but parties have sometimes preferred to pay the fines or have fielded female candidates in districts that are hard to win.
If the polls are correct in predicting a crushing majority for his party, analysts worry
that Mr. Macron will have little incentive to compromise with opposition parties or to build coalitions around certain bills, arguing that in the absence of that kind of parliamentary debate, anger from those opposed to certain legislation could spur street protests.
