France postpones 2nd round of municipal elections to late June

The second round of France’s municipal elections, originally set for this weekend, has been postponed to June 21 after the first round of voting on Sunday was marred by record no-shows. The results of the first round of local elections on Sunday will remain valid.

The French government has been criticized for choosing to press ahead with the first round even as it imposed stringent curbs on public life in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

President Emmanuel Macron ordered people on Monday to stay at home to avoid spreading the virus. He will ask parliament on Thursday to approve a law granting his cabinet the power to govern by decree, “only in areas required to manage this crisis.”

The country’s national health agency announced 21 more coronavirus deaths and 1,210 new cases of infection in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 148, AFP reported.