The mayor of Saint Laurent du Maroni, who came in second position behind Davy Rimane in the second constituency, withdrew this Sunday, leaving the outgoing deputy without competitors. In the first constituency, Olivier Taoumi announces that he is campaigning for Boris Chong Sit but the vote carryovers should not fundamentally change the political situation resulting from the first round.
Published on June 30, 2024 at 12:41 p.m.,
updated June 30, 2024 at 3:19 p.m.
Are the games over for the second round on July 6? In the second constituency, it is in any case over. Sophie Charles has just announced the withdrawal of her candidacy, “acknowledging” the results which placed her in second position with nearly 25% of the votes behind Davy Rimane, who collected 60.2%.
Despite some very good scores on Maroni, in Apatou or Papaichton, Sophie Charles was beaten by Davy Rimane in her own town, in Saint Laurent du Maroni, a town of which she has been mayor since 2018. This was the main surprise of this ballot which undoubtedly precipitated the decision of the now ex-candidate.
“I will continue to relay our issues to the MP who will be elected next Saturday and will continue the program for which the people of Saint-Laurent elected me in 2020,” she announced in a press release.
Davy Rimane therefore no longer has an opponent for July 6, Jean Philippe Dolor having not reached the threshold of 12.5% necessary to maintain his candidacy. Although the stakes are reduced, voters are still called to the polls, the outgoing deputy having not been able to qualify from the first round, due to insufficient participation.
As for Jean-Victor Castor, he will face Boris Chong Sit, with an impressive lead since he won 62.7% of the votes against 16% for his opponent.
The vote carryovers are not expected to reverse the trend. With the exception of the 9.3% collected by the far-right candidate, Olivier Taoumi, the candidates eliminated in the first round all came from the left where Boris Chong Sit, opposition territorial councilor supported by Guyane Rassemblement, comes from the right. He was notably a deputy for the UMP candidate in 2007.
Olivier Taoumi still announced this Sunday that he was campaigning for Boris Chong Sit, whom he describes as “a good legal professional” who has a “sense of dialogue”, the ability to “discuss with the State”, and from whom he expects a “total commitment to the service of Guyana”.
For the future, the candidate invested by the National Rally announces that he wants to launch a “Guyanese right-wing party” in the fall, which will be affiliated with the “Republicans on the Right”, a secessionist party of the LR, founded by Eric Ciotti. The latter had also publicly supported Olivier Taoumi during the election.
As for the 264 votes obtained by Jean-Yves Mirakoff, and his center-left party, Nouvelles Forces de Guyane, they could well align with the candidate from Guyane Rassemblement, a political group close to the presidential Renaissance party with which Jean-Yves Mirrakof also assumed proximity. The postponement will, in any case, remain symbolic.
On the other hand, Jean Victor Castor could benefit from a much more significant reserve of votes. With a two-year parliamentary record and the support of the New Popular Front at the national level, the elected representative from the Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement already embodied the “useful vote” for the left-wing voter during this first round.
It is in light of this context that we can read the collapse of votes in favor of Yvane Goua, her main competitor on the left, who had finished in the lead in the first round of 2022, with the support of France Insoumise. On Saturday, the spokesperson for Trop Violans obtained only 2,157 votes, or 10.5% of the votes cast, compared to 3,122, or 20.7%, in the first round of 2022.
If she will not speak publicly before Tuesday, the time to consult her supporters, her electorate should logically refer to the only left-wing candidate in the second round.
While Jean Victor Castor’s impressive score promises momentum in his favour in the second round, it could also be a double-edged sword. Many voters convinced by the idea of ”voting usefully”, particularly to block the far right, could, for example, lose their support by the second round.
No doubt, this scenario motivates the candidate not to delay in launching the last phase of his campaign. Jean Victor Castor’s electoral caravan did not wait until the end of the election weekend to hit the road again. It was at Family Plaza in Matoury this Sunday.
