Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
clear sky
weather
OMAN
25°C / 25°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Macron’s party unveils fresh faces for election

1009169
1009169
minus
plus

Paris: French president-elect Emmanuel Macron’s party on Thursday unveiled more than 400 candidates who will stand in parliamentary elections in June, with half of them newcomers to politics and half of them women.


Pro-Europe centrist Macron, 39, was elected on Sunday after promising a “revolution” that would bring fresh faces into France’s stale political landscape and end the pattern of power alternating between traditional parties.


His newly renamed grassroots movement, La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move), founded only 13 months ago, revealed 428 out of 577 candidates who will stand in parliamentary elections in June.


“We aim to build a majority for change and to win an absolute majority in parliament for La Republique en Marche (LREM) in the National Assembly,” party Secretary-General Richard Ferrand told a news conference.


Macron had promised that half would be newcomers, meaning a diverse range of figures from business, public service, activist groups and academia will get a chance to seek their first ever elected office. “The promise of renewal is fulfilled,” Ferrand added at the news conference, adding that the average age of the candidates was 46 compared with 60 in the current national assembly.


On the tricky decision of whether to accept former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls, Ferrand said the party had not selected him, but would not field a rival against him in his constituency south of Paris.


Valls, a friend-turned-foe of Macron’s from their time in government from 2014-2016, had asked to be selected on Tuesday.


Other successful bids came from a woman fighter pilot who will run in eastern France and a man born in Rwanda who was adopted in France at the age of four and will contest a seat in Brittany.


The nomination process is a balancing act for Macron and represents major risks for his presidency, which will begin formally on Sunday when he takes over from Socialist Francois Hollande. — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon