France holds first elections since terror attacks

12/6/2015 9:20:02 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Polling stations opened in France on Sunday for the first round of regionalelections less than a month after the terror attacks on Paris.

The elections are widely seen as a gauge of public support for the government’s response to the attacks that killed 130 on Nov. 13 as well as a test for the far-right National Front which is expected to make gains.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy's Les Republicains party is anticipated to win a majority of the 13 regions.

The vote is the first since the countryredrew regional borders in August reducing the number of regions from 22.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time (0700GMT) and 44 millionare eligible to vote.A second round is to be held on Dec. 13.

Voters will elect more than 1600 regional councillors from nearly 21500 candidatesin Franceand the overseas departments of Guadeloupeand Reunion to serve a five-year three-month term.

Elections will also be held for representatives in Corsica French Guyana and Martinique.

Recent polls suggestastrong rise in support for the NationalFront despite President Francois Hollande’s recovery in opinion polls since the Paris attacks.

National Front leader Marine Le Penis expected to take the northern Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region and her nieceMarion MarechalLe Penleads the polls in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur.

Les Republicains and the National Front are likely to receive around 30 percent of votes each according to opinion polls. Hollande's Socialist Party is trailing on around 22 percent and seems likely to lose control of some regions.

The regional polls usually see a low turnout due to the relatively limited powers possessed by regional administrations and around 2 million are expected to vote.

The National Front is hoping a strong performance will boost the party’s chance in the 2017 presidential election.

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