The “popular primaries” to elect a candidate from the left, a deeply divided faction, for France’s presidential election ends Sunday, four days after voting, although there are doubts over whether a figure can be found capable of uniting the electorate.
A total of 467,000 people registered to participate in the online voting, which began Thursday. Participants must rank the candidates – five politicians and two members of civil society – from “very good” to “unsuitable,” to create a scale.
It is hoped that whoever wins will have the support of the other candidates, in order to form a united left-wing bloc to face President Emmanuel Macron in the April elections.
But the primaries, launched by political activists including environmental, feminist and anti-racist groups, have suffered various setbacks.
The greatest of all was the refusal expressed by important candidates such as Jean-Luc Melenchon (radical left), Yannick Gadot (environmentalist) or Anne Hidalgo (a socialist) to pay attention to the outcome.
“For me, the front page is long gone,” Gadot said on Saturday, while Melenchon called the initiative a “farce.”
The best first-come candidate is former Socialist Justice Minister Christiane Tobira, who has said she will accept the first instance ruling.
If Sunday were a victory, Tobira – a very popular politician – could officially present himself for the presidency.
But analysts do not rule out that Melenchon, Gadot or Hidalgo will lead in the vote, which could lead to more confusion.
According to opinion polls, all left-wing candidates will be eliminated in the first round of the presidential elections next April.
Macron, who has not yet declared himself a candidate for re-election, is the frontrunner, according to opinion polls, followed by far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
However, pollsters organizers have warned that the political landscape remains highly volatile and that the outcome of the election remains very difficult.
burs-jh / pvh / jvb / mb