(Bloomberg) -- President Emmanuel Macron was given a warning by discontented voters who backed opposition candidates in two special elections for the National Assembly.
The Republicans, the second-largest party in France's lower house, held on to a seat in Belfort, eastern France, and gained one from Macron's Republic on the Move in the Val d'Oise, near Paris. The seats were won in run-off votes with scores of 59 percent and 51 percent respectively, according to Agence France-Presse.
While turnout was low and results barely dent Macron's large majority in the Assembly, they are a reminder of the challenge the president faces to turn France around after years in the doldrums. Two national opinion polls last week showed his popularity down four points after making tax changes that hurt pensioners in favor of the working population.
“‘France is back' -- fine -- but people also want to hear that security is back, that respect for elders is back, that work is back,” said Laurence Saillet, a spokeswoman for the Republicans, taking a jab at the theme of Macron's speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
Macron's party played down the results. The elections “were characterized by an exceptionally high abstention rate,” the Republic on the Move said in a statement.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Deen in Paris at markdeen@bloomberg.net, Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Geraldine Amiel at gamiel@bloomberg.net, Ben Sills, Zoe Schneeweiss
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