Among the Europeans, she voted for Jean Lassalle (2.69% of the votes in Pau): “He is close to the people. He is a local man and I am for the farmers. Now I don’t know who I’m going to vote for. » At almost 62 years old, she says she is afraid of going out in the evening in her neighborhood which has, in recent months, been the scene of marked incivility and even an attack.
“I am of Algerian origin, but immigration upsets me. There are too many of them, even if it is disgusting to say.” But “even if they say some pretty good things,” Nafissa will not vote for the National Rally (RN): “Oh no, they are racist.”
Back-to-back extremes
Sitting on the opposite bench, Gérard consults the brand new program of the arthouse cinema Le Méliès. A reading that fascinates him more than that of campaign leaflets. On Sunday, instead of going to have a canvas, he will go to vote and will certainly also help with the counting as he is accustomed to doing.
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Because this retired literature teacher is, behind his smile, “worried. The situation is worrying.” He fears a “rise in extremes.” At my age, I can get along with many things, but the privatization of public broadcasting (one of Jordan Bardella’s proposals, Editor’s note) annoys me. I talk about it with my older children, but I don’t have a lesson to teach them. I don’t preach the good word. I just hope that republican democracy will continue, that the French will vote reasonably. »
“I hope young people will go and vote. It is their future that will be decided. »
“I live in Ousse-des-Bois! » It is with a somewhat bravado that Georgette gives her address, which is in the 2nd district. “I like to say it when everyone else is proud to live in the city center,” explains the pretty octogenarian out for a walk with her pretty little white dog.
“I am a true Gaullist,” she assures, taking out her key ring bearing the image of Charles de Gaulle. When I see that in my family, some have gone to the extreme right, I do not forgive it. Extremes are impossible for me… The general must have been turning in his grave. »
Work for young people
As a result, this volunteer at Restos du coeur does not yet know if she will vote. “If the weather is bad, I will stay at home,” she swears. She would just like politicians to be more interested in young people.
“The Chibanis (older immigrants, often North Africans, who came to work in France during the Trente Glorieuses, Editor’s note), they tell me: They are a lost generation. Something must be done for them. They still have to accept it! »
Marc Zirnheld
In the July 14 district, residents received the candidates’ professions of faith at the start of the week.
“Work for young people, because many spin bad luck, and security”, this is also what an octogenarian we met, on the alleys of Morlaàs (2nd constituency), wants. She rests on a bench after returning from her daily 7 km walk. An exercise that allows him to stay in shape: “It’s better, especially since I’ve been looking for a general practitioner for a year and a half. And I’m not even talking about specialists.”
This Paloise also feels disconnected. “To make an appointment, a train ticket, to fill out your taxes, it’s all online. At 80, I row sometimes. And that scares me. The day there is a bug, what will we do? Who will be responsible? “, she asks herself. Regretting the rise of “the two extremes”, she “worries a lot about her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren”.
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“We are very worried about the new generation. I hope young people will vote. It is their future that will be decided,” Daniel and Anne-Marie also wish.
Crossed on their way back from the bakery, these retirees from July 14 (3rd constituency) assure that they will go to the polls while feeling “lost. We are not interested in televised debates. The candidates insult each other and do not behave like adults,” says Anne-Marie. With her husband, she began to sort out the professions of faith “because you have to go and vote”, but without conviction.
Marc Zirnheld
Michel, busy stripping, will choose his candidate at the last moment.
Gaëlle, a 34-year-old young mother, will also make this “effort out of respect for the ancestors who fought for us to have the right to vote”, but she is “jaded”. The immigration law deeply disappointed her, as did the use of article 49.3, a way for the government to force its way through. “Bardella and Mélenchon. Extremes are never good. We need a happy medium, but neutrality is complicated,” she concedes while pointing out the responsibility of the media.
Media bias
“They are pro-Macron. On television, the questions are clearly directed, the journalists are not neutral and that bothers me. Some people are being cut off, but not those in Macron’s camp. And the question asked to footballers about their vote. I was shocked. Not by the answers. These are the ones we expected of them. But by the partiality of the questions”, deplores this Paloise of July 14.
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A little further on, Jean-Paul, a plumber, prepares parts on his workbench, in preparation for a future project. He knows who he will vote for, even he doesn’t want to tell anyone. “There have to be rules for everyone. The life of a neighborhood is pleasant, if everyone puts their own effort into it,” he wants to think, annoyed by the “recurring incivilities”, notably the dumping of bulky waste at the end of his street.
He would also like to see neighborhoods become mixed-use again. “All crafts are pushed to peripheral areas. If an activity makes too much noise or emits too much odor, we send it to the other side of town. While it would still be more logical to have housing, businesses, workshops here. You can not find ? »
Too much mess
Michel is busy stripping a gate when we meet him in rue Marcel-Barthe (3rd district), a stone’s throw from the famous Spanish Hogar. He promises not to watch the evening debate (the one broadcast on TF1, this Tuesday, June 25, Editor’s note): “They are shooting each other in the paws and then we don’t know who to believe? » Result, Michel voted for the animalist party in the European elections. “They can’t do any harm,” he thinks. His “loss of confidence” will not prevent him from voting. “I will choose at the ballot box,” he predicts.
Jean-Gabriel has already made his decision: he will vote RN, as in the last European elections. This Monday, he took advantage of the finally summer temperatures to go out and play pétanque, on the market square in Ousse-des-Bois (2nd district). “Here, we play bowls, we don’t talk politics,” he assures his comrades from whom he does not hide his opinions.
“There is too much disorder, I respect it but some people no longer make an effort. They don’t even respect democracy anymore. The people have voted and they are coming out into the streets to demonstrate. Me, whatever the result on Sunday, I will respect the institutions,” maintains this retired police officer, before resuming the game of pétanque, the serious subject of this sunny day.
