Paris – There were several victories for the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN) party in the local elections in France on Sunday. In the second largest city of Marseille, the Rassemblement National achieved a respectable success. In the struggle for the mayor’s office, challenger Franck Allisio from the RN and the socialist incumbent Benoit Payan were, according to a forecast, in the lead in the first round of voting. These two politicians, as well as candidates from the far-left France Insoumise party and the centrists, will now face a runoff election on March 22nd as no one received an absolute majority. A forecast by the Ipsos Institute saw Mayor Payan and the RN candidate Allisio tied at 35.4 percent in Marseille on Sunday evening.
