Many French people in Montreal expected to see the National Rally (RN) dominate the 2024 legislative elections. The results of the first round on Sunday now have some fearing that the country they left will no longer be the same.
Updated yesterday at 10:09 p.m.
It is 2 p.m. on Sunday on Mont-Royal Avenue when Maeline Alvarez, a 24-year-old French woman, learns the results of the first round.
“I am disappointed, because I thought there would be more mobilization from the left,” says the young woman who has lived here for a year thanks to a travel-work permit (PVT). “That means that there is still a lot of racism [en France]because I think people vote for racism and not for programs. [des partis]. »
According to her, many people who voted for the presidential camp in the past are now turning to the extreme right. She even admits to knowing many people who, in the past, voted left and who now give their vote to the RN.
She still has one year left to serve here on her visa, but Maeline Alvarez is now wondering about a possible return to her country.
“If there is ever a prime minister from the RN, that doesn’t make you want to return, because we know that our conditions will deteriorate over time,” she believes. There is a feeling of fear, because you tell yourself that you live in a country where people are fascists. »
“Hate has made its place”
Seated not far away on a terrace on the famous avenue du Plateau-Mont-Royal, Adeline Conesa, a 38-year-old Franco-Canadian, also just learned the results of the first round. She says she is not surprised, considering the rise of the RN in her country of origin.
There are many people who vote for the RN, but who don’t say it. Hate has made its place by making itself more accessible by making people believe that they are a party like the others. I left the country because of the mentality which is changing and which is very closed.
Adeline Conesa, 38-year-old French-Canadian
She explains how her grandmother herself was the victim of racism when she left Spain to immigrate to France.
“She was getting stones thrown at her and told to go home to Spain,” says Adeline Conesa. “Racism against Italians and Spaniards existed, but it seems like every generation changes the target.”
“Even if the RN wins, the French must continue to have an open mind and not trust their word and not advocate hatred,” she adds.
A “paradigm shift”
Several French political parties have reacted quickly after the results in order to anticipate the second round. Candidates are already giving their instructions to block the extreme right and limit its rise.
“We are changing the paradigm this evening in French political life, because we see a navy blue wave in the vast majority of French constituencies,” explains Julien Robin, doctoral student in political science at the University of Montreal.
We are seeing the predictable rise of the RN for 20 to 30 years and which is taking place before our eyes.
Julien Robin, doctoral student in political science at the University of Montreal
For this specialist whose thesis focuses on the evolution of parliamentary groups in the French National Assembly over the last 15 years, the scenarios for the second round are rather limited.
“We could already expect a good RN majority in the Assembly [nationale], whether it is a relative majority or an absolute majority which will not be large, he explains. The second scenario is to see the Republican arc calcify during the week with withdrawals and withdrawals in the case of triangulars and therefore a limitation of the progress of the RN in the second round. »
Julien Robin does not expect a majority for the left which is stagnating around its usual results. The French will vote again next week while cohabitation between the Macronist camp and another party seems inevitable.
