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WORLD NEWS Friday 12 May 2017
Not just a new president, new faces for France’s parliament

By ELAINE GANLEY will be France’s youngest
JOHN LEICESTER president when he takes
Associated Press office Sunday, and by the
PARIS (AP) — A female fight- party’s efforts to make
er pilot, a farmer, a teach- grassroots ideas part of its
er, people out of work. campaign platform.
They all applied for the job “If I’m elected, I don’t want
— and got it, among more to become a political pro-
than 19,000 people hop- fessional. I’ll serve one or
ing to become candidates two terms,” he said.
in June elections for the Mireille Robert, who heads
French parliament under a primary school in a vil-
the banner of President- lage of 1,000 people in
elect Emmanuel Macron. the Aude region of south-
Renewing a political land- western France, will be up
scape long bogged down against a local Socialist
with out-of-touch parties Party heavyweight.
and long-serving politicians In a telephone interview,
was a central campaign the 55-year-old Robert said
promise and the eclectic one of her main motives for
mix of candidates speaks getting into politics under
to Macron’s desire to pull Macron’s banner is fighting
the plug on a system he French President-elect Emmanuel Macron poses with supporters after a ceremony commemorat- the rise of political extrem-
deems broken. On Thurs- ing the abolition of slavery, in Paris, Wednesday, May 10, 2017. ism in France.
day, his Republic on the (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) Macron, a centrist upstart,
Move party announced won Sunday’s presidential
an initial slate of 428 candi- “Our candidates signal the killed in the operation. applied and resumes are election by a landslide, de-
dates for France’s 577-seat permanent return of the Another is Claire Tassadit still coming in. “I signed up feating far-right candidate
National Assembly. It was a citizen to the heart of our Houd, whose sister, Djamila, right from the beginning,” Marine Le Pen, who had
potpourri of citizens, more political life,” party secre- was among the 130 people said Jean-Baptiste Moreau, hoped to ride the wave of
than half of whom, like tary-general Richard Fer- killed in the attacks. a 40-year-old farmer who rising nationalism in Europe.
Macron, have never held rand said in announcing Would-be candidates is contesting a seat in the Despite her defeat, Le Pen
elected office. Their shared the partial slate. were asked to sign up on Creuse region of central achieved the highest-ever
goal: to deliver Macron the The candidates offer a the party’s website and France where he lives. score for her National Front
parliamentary majority he taste of how Macron’s submit a resume and let- Moreau said he was party, which has a his-
needs to govern effective- grassroots, startup-style ter explaining their moti- drawn by the profile of the tory of anti-Semitism and
ly and pull France out of its movement sought to re- vation. More than 19,000 39-year-old Macron, who racism.q
economic doldrums and cruit outside the circle of
social funk. career politicians.
The average age of the Among them is Jean-Mi-
candidates who made the chel Fauvergue, the com-
cut is 46 — compared to 60 mander of the elite RAID
for the outgoing assembly. police unit that took down
Half are women and half the Islamic State cell that
are men. Only 5 percent carried out the Nov. 13,
— 24 — were lawmakers in 2015, Paris attacks, includ-
the outgoing parliament, ing its ring leader Abdel-
all Socialists. hamid Abaaoud, who was