A large abstention was recorded on Sunday in the second round of regional elections in France, the results of which constituted a major setback for the far-right led by Marine Le Pen and the party of President Emmanuel Macron ten months before the presidential elections.

On Sunday at 1700 GMT, an hour before polling stations closed, the abstention rate was 66.3 percent, a significant increase compared to the December 2015 district elections when the abstention rate was less than 50 percent and the municipalities in March 2015 (The abstinence rate is less than 60 percent), according to the data of the Ministry of the Interior.

About 48 million voters were invited to vote amid strict health measures imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus, at a time when France is recording a significant decline in the number of infections, but it is facing the threat of the Delta mutation.

In the first round, more than two-thirds of the voters (66.72 percent) abstained, a record rate since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958.

The election constituted a setback for Le Pen and Macron's parties, while reversing an uprising by the traditional parties that have popular bases in the regions, which allowed the right and left to consolidate their positions ten months before the date of the presidential election.

The National Assembly led by Le Pen was unable to win any region in the second round of local elections.

The traditional right-wing candidate, Renaud Muselier, beat the National Rally candidate Thierry Mariani in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region (Baca, southeast), the only one that the extreme right was qualified to win.

Sunday, Le Pen acknowledged the loss, saying, "This evening, we will not win any region," speaking of a "deep crisis in local democracy," but stressed that "mobilization is the key to victories in the future," referring to the upcoming presidential elections.

In turn, Macron's "Republic on the Move" party acknowledged that the second round of local elections, in which it did not win in any region, constitutes a "disappointment for the presidential majority," according to its president, Stanislas Guerini.

- traditional parties -

Who is the winner in this election? Probably the "traditional" parties, which have been somewhat absent from the media scene in recent years and have been shocked by the sudden election of centrist Macron, which snatched voters from both the right and the left.

Many right-wing leaders will use their victory in the local elections to stress that the presidential election cards can be mixed.

"Now everyone realizes that the presidential election is a three-way race. He has dropped the twosome," said Republican Xavier Bertrand, a former minister and winner of the Eau-de-France (north) region.

However, caution must be exercised in analyzing this return to the traditional rift between the left and the right, as there is nothing to suggest that the regional elections will change the scenario of confrontation between Macron and Le Pen, which all polling institutes expect for the presidential elections in 2022.