French Legislative Election 2017

[Barnes]

Valls won't be LREM candidate in his constituency.

Hehe. Not that I'm an enthusiastic LREM convert, but even as far as political opportunism goes, that was pretty craven. Macron has proved unusually adept at totally shedding association with the Hollande presidency despite representing a continuation of at least its ambitions, if not its policies. I don't doubt he'll be able to continue pulling this off until at least June.

[Barnes]

I really have few ideological complaints about Valls (except for his idiotic support for banning the "burkini", which isn't really out of line with his own policies) but there was really no need to pull such an act of political betrayal against the PS except for his own advantage.

You might ask, how is that any different than any other politician, especially in France? Well it's not, really, except that Valls mishandled the whole thing so badly, Macron was at pains to ignore his endorsement and then ensured he wouldn't just parachute in as a LREM candidate.

[Barnes]

Benchmarks from the rest of the Fifth Republic to keep in mind for the inevitable hideous defeat of the Left...

1958: 50 seats (SFIO 40, PCF 10)
1968: 91 seats (FGDS 57, PCF 34)
1993: 91 seats (PS 53, PCF 24, Others 14)

And with FG/FI and the PCF out for each other's blood, those results will look positively peachy in comparison!

[Barnes]

Is PCF still something relevant? With 1-2 % in opinion polls, it seems they diminished to the level of Trotskyists.

They have a much larger presence in departmental and communal offices than Melenchon's fan club.

[Barnes]

Excuse my ignorance, but in the first round don't candidate who get 12.5%+ make it to the second round? Or is it top 2?

If no candidate gets a majority of all registered voters, then any candidate who recieved at least 12.5% of registered voters can participate in the second round. If no one meets that threshold, then the top two candidates go to the second round.  

Any candidate who makes the second round can withdraw before the date of the election, and to win you only need a majority of votes actually cast.

[Barnes]

Thanks for the extra info, Parochial Boy! This system is so amusingly Byzantine.

[Barnes]

FN continues to display its electoral incompetence. Jolly good!

[Barnes]

Mennucci has announced that he's been eliminated in Bouches-du-Rhône.

[Barnes]

Are all the run-offs top 3 or do you have to win a certain amount to make it to the run-off?

Anyone who scores 12.5% of all registered voters is allowed to participate. The turnout was so low, I think there's only one Triangulare this time around. In fact, it was so anemic, most second place candidates didn't even pass the 12.5% themselves!

[Barnes]

Parliamentary groups have been finalised; The UDI-Constructifs group has 38 members. The PC has formed the Democratic and Republican Left group with Martinician, Réunionese, and Guianese deputies.

Is there a reason why MoDem has its own group and not part of REM's group? Also, does anyone know if the EELV deputy joined the Socialist group or is a non-inscrite?

Why didn't the far left (Melenchon's FI and PCF) unite?

The PCF despises Melenchon's cult of personality and the two burned most of their bridges during the legislative campaign. Additionally the Communists have always felt humiliated about dropping below the threshold for a group; this formed the impetus for the GDR where they could have a crypto-PCF group with a few regionalists/minor parties.