Majority of French think current democratic system does not work -poll

PARIS (Reuters) – Most people in France think the Fifth Republic’s democratic system does not work, said a survey from a government-advisory body, highlighting the country’s lingering malaise following general elections this summer that produced no clear winner.

Fifty-one percent said ‘only strong power’ could guarantee law and order, added the survey, conducted by Ipsos for the CESE and published in Le Parisien newspaper on Wednesday.

The survey from the CESE body – which advises the French government and parliament – also said 23 percent it polled felt ‘democracy was not the best political system’ currently on offer.

President Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to dissolve parliament and hold new elections in June and July backfired on Macron, as his centrist camp lost its grip on power.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) won the most votes in the first-round, only to then lose out to the ‘New Popular Front’ broad-based left wing coalition in the decisive second-round, but neither bloc won an outright majority.

In September, Macron named Michel Barnier from the conservative Republicans (LR) camp as new Prime Minister, even though the Republicans won less votes than the far-right and far-left.

Barnier’s recent budget has been attacked by Le Pen’s far-right party, whose tacit support the government needs to survive a potential no-confidence vote.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)