The navy blue wave submerged a good part of France during the early legislative elections, as predicted in the polls. With 34% for the National Rally and its allies, the far right has never been so close to Matignon under the Fifth Republic. If the New Popular Front resists well (28%), the presidential majority is crumbling (20%). The new map of the National Assembly will become clearer in the second round depending on Republican withdrawals and vote carryovers.
While participation in France was relatively high (64%), in Morocco it remained below 40%, with a strong growth in online voting. The highest participation rates were unsurprisingly found in Rabat (~45%) and Casablanca (~42%), while Fez mobilized less than 30% of voters. Although very low, participation in Morocco outperformed other countries in the region. In the entire 9th constituency of French people abroad, grouping together the Maghreb and West Africa, the participation rate barely reached 28%.
The vote of the French in Morocco confirmed the trends observed during the legislative elections of 2022, and the European elections of 2024. The outgoing deputy of the New Popular Front, Karim Ben Cheikh, came well ahead (49%), ahead of Samira Djouadi, Ensemble (18%) and, a surprise in 3rd position with 11%, the candidate of the national rally, Elodie Charon.
Marrakech and Agadir, future bastions of the extreme right?
In detail, in Rabat, Karim Ben Cheikh largely dominated the vote with 60% of the votes, ahead of Samira Djouadi (13%). In Casablanca, the same duo in the lead with the NFP candidate (51%) and the Ensemble candidate (18%). In Fez, the outgoing deputy obtains more than 57%, and the candidate of the presidential majority collects less than 14%. In Tangier, Karim Ben Cheikh received around 49% of votes while Samira Djouadi obtained almost 18%.
Like the results of the 2024 European elections, and the 2022 legislative elections, Marrakech and Agadir confirmed the surge of the far right. In Marrakech, Elodie Charon (RN), with 21% of the votes, is hot on the heels of the Ensemble candidate (25%) and the NFP candidate who came first but has a lower score (less than 32%). In Agadir, the podium is modified for the first time. Karim Ben Cheikh is still in the lead with nearly 33%, ahead of Elodie Charon (24%) and Samira Djouadi who collects less than 20% of the votes.
