Nîmes (Gard), report
At 8pm, there was a sudden silence when the national results of the early legislative elections appeared on the screen of the terrace of the Bar du Midi, one of the only ones in Nîmes not to broadcast the Spain-Georgia match of the Euro football championship. Here, everyone was talking about the union of the left, giving their opinion on Mélenchon or on François Hollande’s candidacy for the legislative elections, when the axe fell: according to initial estimates, the National Rally and its allies obtained 34 % of the vote, ahead of the New Popular Front, at 28.1 %.
The team of the ecologist candidate Nicolas Cadène, invested by the New Popular Front in the 6th constituency of Gard, receives the local results drop by drop. The constituency, half rural, half urban, includes half of Nîmes and about twenty rural communes.
The terrace of the Bar du Midi was full when the first results were announced.
© Estelle Pereira / Reporterre
Unlike the 2022 legislative elections, she is the candidate RNSylvie Josserand, who came in first with 42.07 % of the votes. Nicolas Cadène, himself, obtained second place with 28.77 %. As for the Ensemble candidate, Aurélien Colson, although qualified for the second round in a three-way race, he announced his withdrawal: « I do not want to contribute by a dispersion of votes to the election of the RN »he said.
« We have witnessed a liberation of racist and xenophobic speech »
It must be said that the far-right party is in force in Gard — four outgoing deputies out of the six in the department were RN. Not only in the number of votes, but also in his ideas. « Throughout the campaign, we witnessed a release of racist and xenophobic speech. This was not the case two years ago »Nicolas Cadène testifies with concern.
Nicolas Cadène, New Popular Front candidate of the 6e constituency of Gard surrounded by Béatrice Leccia, substitute, and Corinne Giacometti, activist of PS Gard.
© Estelle Pereira / Reporterre
The senior civil servant, known nationally for his work for the Observatory of Secularism, points the finger at political and media officials mainstream in this trivialization of hatred and the demonization of the left: « If racist people speak freely, it is because they think they are in the majority. Because editorialists, politicians, normalize the ideas of the National Rally all day long on television sets. »
« I have been called a Nazi and an anti-Semite ! No, but can you imagine what it’s like for a left-wing activist? ? »exasperates Laurence, an activist PS. « The bazooka against foreigners, France for the French, we have heard it all »despairs Corinne Giacometti, a left-wing opposition municipal councillor in the city of Nîmes.
« It’s as if the aggression of social networks had taken to the sidewalk »
« This is the most difficult campaign I have had to run since I started campaigning in 1995 », adds Béatrice Leccia, substitute, member of the Ecologists party. She describes : « It’s as if the aggression of social media has taken to the streets. The results of the Europeans have given confidence to those who throw their hatred in their faces. It must be remembered that racism is not an opinion but an offense ! »
With 28.77 % of the votes, the New Popular Front came far behind the RN and its 42.07 %, but could benefit from a postponement of centrist votes to the second round.
© Estelle Pereira / Reporterre
This patent hostility did not prevent Nicolas Cadène and his teams from campaigning everywhere, including in the villages of Manduel, Marguerittes and Poulx which are not very favorable to him – the votes RN represented respectively 48.97 %, 48,74 % et 42,19 % of votes in the last European elections.
Social Scam
In the markets, or even during the votive festival, each time he captures an exchange, he follows in the footsteps of the people he approaches: « The RN is a social scam », he tries to demonstrate by citing the votes of the far-right party, in particular against the increase in the minimum wage. Around him, the united local left and around a hundred people are multiplying leaflets and door-to-door campaigns.
Despite this militant fervor, in such a context, it is difficult to talk about ecology, laments Béatrice Leccia: « Purchasing power is a major concern. Other parties want to believe that ecology and purchasing power are not compatible. We say that we cannot dissociate the two. And above all, do not put a climate skeptic party in power ! » It remains to convince centrist and Macronist voters in the second round.
