For the third time in a month, the French are being called to the polls. This second round of legislative elections is decisive: it will determine who will be the next French prime minister. Several expatriates living in Montreal have confided in us their apprehension about the results, which will be announced on Sunday afternoon.
“It was super important for me to come and vote today. My father is an immigrant from West Africa, my mother is French, I am mixed race. The National Rally is fighting against everything I represent,” says Pauline Motte.
She came to vote Saturday morning at the Centre Mont-Royal in downtown Montreal, shortly after the polls opened. In the first constituency, which brings together French people living in the United States and Canada, two candidates are facing off: a centrist, from Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party, and an environmentalist, under the banner of the New Popular Front (NFP). The National Rally (RN) was defeated in the first round, with 10.70% of the votes cast.
At the national level, however, Marine Le Pen’s far-right party is the favorite: according to the latest polls, the RN and its allies would obtain 170 to 210 seats in the National Assembly, for an absolute majority set at 289 deputies. They would be closely followed by the NFP (155 to 185 seats) and by the Macronists (95 to 125 seats).
Fear of the National Rally
“I’ve been here for a long time, I had decided not to vote anymore. But when I saw the results of the European elections, I was afraid, so I came to vote in the legislative elections,” explains Christophe Maire, who has lived in Quebec since 1998.
I haven’t understood my native country for several years, but this was really the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Christophe Maire, Frenchman living in Quebec
Several voters expressed concern about the trivialization of racism and the far right in France. “I came to do my duty as a citizen. We have seen the rise of the National Rally and we are seeing more and more racist acts in France, on social networks. I am afraid for my family who remained there,” confided Souleymane Koné.
A government from the far right in France would be a first since World War II. “I know that the National Rally will pass, that they will have a lot of deputies. I am afraid for what it will lead to in the future,” maintains Pauline Motte.
When the far right comes to power, it’s hard to go back. It’s like opening a Pandora’s box that will be hard to close again.
Pauline Motte, French woman living in Quebec
The hope of avoiding an absolute majority
Few people were present at the polling station on Saturday morning, as French people abroad also had the opportunity to vote online on Wednesday and Thursday. In the first round of the legislative elections, participation was barely 7% at the ballot box, but 28.81% online.
While Joëlle Bergeron, who has lived in Quebec for 15 years, also shares his fear of the extreme right, she remains optimistic nonetheless. “I think we have managed to counter both extremes, I am less afraid with all the blockades that are being put up,” she maintains. “We can prevent them from having an absolute majority.”
If the RN were to cross the threshold of an absolute majority – 289 elected representatives – or come close to it, Jordan Bardella, 28, would become prime minister. He would become the youngest prime minister in the history of France and would implement the anti-immigration program advocated for decades by his party.
In Montreal, polling stations will be open until 6 p.m. on Saturday; French residents of the metropolis will vote on Sunday. The first results will be in Sunday at 2 p.m., Montreal time.
With information from Agence France-Presse