She will be the first political figure outside of government to visit this territory since the deadly cyclone. And even if it does not bring all the help and announcements from the executive, it could be better received by the population than was President Emmanuel Macron – strongly heckled on December 19 by Mahorais who he then referred to them as “people of the National Rally” – or even Prime Minister François Bayrou.
Marine Le Pen is preparing to go to Mayotte on Sunday for a field visit. She will stay there until Tuesday. “She will be able to compare the reception she receives with that reserved for the government,” observes the political scientist specializing in the far right Jean-Yves Camus, “even if the inhabitants do not expect the same thing from a party of 'opposition'.
“Infinite friendship”
The leader of the National Rally deputies regularly proclaims her attachment to this overseas community, to which she had sent a message of “infinite friendship” on New Year's Eve, and which returns it relatively well. She was placed at the head of the presidential election with nearly 60% of the votes in 2022. And during the legislative elections in July 2024, the party obtained its first two overseas deputies, including one in Mayotte.
A sign of these favorable winds, the president of the Collective of Citizens of Mayotte, Fatihou Ibrahime, says he is “touched” that Ms. Le Pen has expressed “special wishes to the Mahorais”. He thanks Marine Le Pen for “speaking to the French in Mayotte”, even if he does not expect “any specific announcements”.
An old interest
This visit, the program of which has not been detailed, “is a mark of affection from Marine Le Pen,” declared RN deputy Thomas Ménage on France Info. “It is also an additional pressure on the government.”
The interest of the far right in Mayotte “dates back to the self-determination referendum (1974, Editor's note) in which the Mahorais chose to remain French,” explains Jean-Yves Camus. The Mahorais' preference for France “resonates” with the RN which “claims an exacerbated form of patriotism”. As early as 2008, Jean-Marie Le Pen evoked Mayotte as “the example of a territory victim of migratory submersion” from the Comoros.
While according to INSEE, the department has 320,000 inhabitants, but perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 more with undocumented immigrants, the party makes the archipelago the symbol of a “bankruptcy” of migration policy . And illustrates certain measures of his program, such as the abolition of land law.
But it was only with the accession in 2011 of Marine Le Pen to the head of the FN that the people of Mahor began to support the party in flames. Its popularity in this predominantly Muslim territory of France then serves as “proof that the party has left the racist line” and reinforces its strategy of demonization, while maintaining a firm line on immigration.
“No longer a desire for change”
Thus, in her wishes on December 31, Marine Le Pen attacked the slums built “in a totally anarchic manner” and become “a cemetery for illegal immigrants”. Public services in Mayotte, the poorest department in France, “can no longer” function properly because of “the number of people who live there”.
Faced with the disappointments of recent years, “the population is clinging to a hope that can be represented by the only political party that has not yet governed,” said Ambdilwahedou Soumaila, the mayor of Mamoudzou, capital of Mayotte. “It is more a desire for change, to move the lines, which appeals to the population rather than the ideas put forward by this party,” he said, also considering with regard to the arrival of Ms. Le Pen that “any support is good to take.”
“She comes to lie to us again”
But some Mahorais we met, tired of empty promises, do not view Ms. Le Pen's visit favorably. “She’s coming to lie to us again,” judges Abou, 28, who works at TotalEnergies.
“All these politicians are coming to bluff us. The President (of the Republic) came, the Prime Minister came, but nothing changed there.” “I don’t see what she can bring us at the moment,” says Anfida, a 32-year-old care worker.
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