For several months, the date of March 15, 2020, had been marked on all political agendas as an important date in the democratic life of our country. We were far from imagining that we would experience this strange evening.
Indeed, the coronavirus had other plans. In three days (between the president’s speech and this first round), the epidemic spread with frightening brutality. As a result, the public opinion, which had endorsed this act of civic resistance that the election was supposed to be, started to doubt. With a certain degree of bad faith, the opposition political parties, sensing the changing winds, expressed reservations where they had previously urged the government to organize these elections.
In the end, even though the technical organization of the vote was flawless (a tribute to the staff and the assessors), a massive abstention punished the government’s contradictory message (“Stay at home,” “go vote”). However, it is worth noting that: some of those abstaining were also Sunday strollers!
This first round still holds at least the value of a mega survey. Thus, in Nice, it can be observed that the results validate the latest polls with an outgoing mayor very close to 50%, a National Rally (RN) at its usual level, and the Greens well below their national breakthrough. Unsurprisingly, the divided left was eliminated from municipal representation, with the Socialist Party (PS) coming in sixth place.
These results are interesting because abstention affected all the lists, and it is highly likely that this outcome will be confirmed in a few weeks if today’s election is not validated.
But let’s focus on the essential and use this citizen legitimization, even if imperfect, for the protection and health of the people of Nice. We will take care of Nice afterward…
