Despite these sponsorships, for all the results in the Chamber, Chez Nous obtained only 0.92% of the votes. And in the Walloon parliament, the small party only obtained 2.83%. What are the reasons for this slap? For political scientist Benjamin Biard (Crisp), a specialist in the far right, three reasons emerge. “First factor: the very intense mobilization of civil society against the extreme right, in particular anti-fascist fronts who wanted to leave no space for the Chez Nous party until the last moments of the campaign; and even after the elections.”
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The second reason explaining the failure of Chez Nous has often been mentioned in our columns: the existence of a “media sanitary cordon”, that is to say this discipline that the French-speaking media impose on themselves in order not to give voice to the extremes without filter or contextualization. “This sanitary cordon is not absolute, nuance Benjamin Biard, due to the existence of social networks in which the Chez Nous party has invested massively – more than 32,000 euros. But the visibility of the extreme right is still reduced by this mechanism. And the media sanitary cordon maintains the idea of the ‘devil in politics’, as I often say.”
Competition from MR?
Final explanation for the failure of Chez Nous: the exceptional performance of the MR, boosted by a “Boucher effect”. “The MR asserted itself on its conservative flank and a large number of people having voted for the People’s Party And the Destexhe Lists in 2019 would have headed towards the MR on June 9. A more radical electorate would have voted Liberal.” Along the same lines, the presence of N-VA lists in Wallonia (at the federal level) could have had an impact on the score of Chez Nous.
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Setbacks, at the very end of the campaign, may have marginally influenced the results of Chez Nous. The Walloon party lost the support of the National Rally for having misused the name and image of Marine Le Pen in certain electoral leaflets. At the end of May, justice ruled in favor of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s daughter. Despite the RN’s initial support for Chez Nous, the former presidential candidate in France demanded that her image no longer be used in the campaign in Belgium under penalty of heavy fines.
Heading towards local elections
Will Chez Nous be able to survive these headwinds? “For the moment, it appears that there has been no significant defection from within the party, analyzes Benjamin Biard. The party is interested in its results obtained in certain cantons: in Couvin, Mouscron, Bassenge, Grâce-Hollogne, the scores are not negligible. In some cases they were above 5%. This strengthens mobilization and Chez Nous has already initiated the campaign dynamic for the local elections in October. We already see it on social networks.”
gullChez Nous has already started the campaign dynamic for the local elections in October. We already see it on social networks.“
Of course, for Chez Nous, the local issue is not as important as that of the recent federal and regional elections. “The party already has local elected officials. Other people may succeed in getting re-elected in October but that will not mean that the far right is taking back its place. The far right remains marginal in Wallonia despite the advantages it benefited from during this campaign. Wallonia is also described as a ‘Gallic village’ for its exceptionalism in a European landscape where the extreme right has an important place.”
gullWallonia is described as a ‘Gallic village’ for its exceptionalism in a European landscape where the extreme right has an important place.“
The far-right party “Chez Nous” is an unexpected hit on social networks: here are the reasons for its success
A question of financing?
Finally, Benjamin Biard raises a question relating to the “nerves of war”: money… “We will have to see if Chez Nous, taking into account the results of June 9, will continue to benefit from private donations. This is a point of attention. Especially since the municipal elections will not allow the party to really gain in professionalism or to claim the public funding that it could have had if it had been able to elect deputies.”
