Voices from France’s parliamentary election
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Voters arriving at a polling station in Paris on July 7.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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CONFLANS SAINTE-HONORINE/TOURS – Here are views from some voters as France voted in a parliamentary election on July 7 that could see the far-right National Rally (RN) emerge as the dominant political force.
Centrist President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election
“I’m mad at the government and in particular at the President that they have taken this irresponsible risk,” said doctor Frederic Maillard from the central town of Tours.
“The country is facing three radically opposed views of society,” said Mr Olivier Grisal, a retiree, as he walked towards his polling site in the middle-class town of Conflans Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, with his wife.
“There’s the far right, there is Macronism which in my view also has dangerous and dictatorial tendencies, and then there’s the left which is also not great,” he added.
Ms Ranaivoatisan Voahirana, who works in the medical sector, said she voted for the government’s candidate but was “almost certain” the RN would win.
“People won’t bother to hide their racism anymore,” she added.
A long-time pariah for many due to its history of racism and antisemitism, the RN has sought to clean up its image and denies accusations of racism. Its platform taps into voter anger at Mr Macron over straitened household budgets, security and immigration worries.
“We need to reset the clocks,” said Mr Dorian Garro, 21, who works as a cook, adding that his vote was mostly motivated by a desire for more law and order. “Macron has done nothing to improve security.”
Mr Garro declined to say who he voted for.
Mr Youssef Mahmoud, 33, who works in a bank in Paris, also declined to say which party he chose, but said he was against the far right’s anti-immigration views.
“Just because you’re an immigrant doesn’t mean you’re necessarily taking money out of the state’s coffers. If they want to restrict immigration, let them, but don’t complain afterwards,” he said.
In Chantilly, a town north of Paris, voter Jean-Charles Grasset said: “We’re in a democracy. And if the voters pick a party from the far right or the far left then that has to be respected. The president saw the extremes rising and decided to give the people the chance to express themselves.”
Mr Frederic Wallet, a construction worker, said he would enter an empty ballot as he could not identify with any of the choices on offer.
“Good luck France, it will be a mess,” he added. REUTERS
