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PARIS, March 16-- Candidates of French President Emmanuel Macron's The Republic on the Move (LERM) party failed in Sunday's first-round municipal election, clouding the president's plan to build a local power base for his party ahead of the 2022 presidential race. According to exit polls, the LERM failed to uproot the bastions long-held by socialists and conservatives in the largest French cities. Paris remains in the hands of the Socialist Party after its candidate Anne Hidalgo led with 30.2 percent of the votes, eight points ahead of her conservative rival Rachida Dati's 22 percent. Former Health Minister Agnes Buzyn who defended the LREM banner came in third with 17 percent. In Marseille, France's second main city, the right-wing The Republicans party failed to secure a fifth mandate after its candidate came in second behind the Socialist contender. Pollsters' estimate showed candidate from the European Ecologists and the Greens (EELV) Gregory Doucet was placed first in Lyon, France's third main city, where he collected 29 percent of the vote, a 12-point lead over his conservative rival. The EELV saw a surge in support in Bordeaux, a right-wing stronghold, Grenoble, Besancon and Strasbourg, suggesting a growing "green wave" is likely to sweep Europe's second largest power. Facing his first domestic mid-term vote challenge, Macron had bet on his anti-establishment party -- which he created in 2016 -- to win control of major cities to anchor power at local level, and offset losses in the rural zone where he faces fierce criticism of "being out of touch" with and "doing little to the working class." | 
