The Racial Divide: France Grapples with Election Consequences

FRANCE-The prospect of far-right groups winning the French election has increased minority anxieties that xenophobia and racism would become far more prevalent in French society.

Is France’s election a referendum on racism?

The far-right alliance prevailed in the first round of snap legislative elections in France, while the centrist coalition led by President Emmanuel Macron struggled. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party and its allies received almost 33 percent of the vote, nearly twice their percentage from the previous election, according to official statistics given by the French interior ministry. With over 28% of the vote, the left-leaning New Popular Front (NPP) coalition placed second, while Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance received about 20% of the vote, which is almost half of what they had previously received. In comparison to the parliamentary elections two years earlier, when fewer than half of the eligible voters cast votes, this year’s voter turnout was the greatest in decades. The beleaguered President Macron called for a quick election on June 9 in response to Marine Le Pen’s RN party suffering a catastrophic loss in the European Parliament elections. Though the gap was less than in the most recent legislative elections, the far-right and centrist alliances changed positions in that election with respect to vote counts as compared to the previous European elections.

Can France overcome its human rights violation?

Though it’s unclear if Marine Le Pen’s National Rally organization will win a majority following the July 7 run-off, many of France’s six million Muslims are, like Fatimata, paralyzed by dread. The extreme right won the first round of legislative elections on Sunday. “I feel like France has betrayed me.” It hurts to know that 10.6 million voters supported a party that advocated for outlawing the veil in public areas, the woman said. Le Pen’s party has long demonized the type of French person she represents. She was reared in a banlieue, one of the poor areas around Paris that are home to several immigrant and ethnic minority populations. She wears the hijab. Her parents are foreigners, Mauritanian and Senegalese. She possesses two citizenships. Le Pen has advocated for the prohibition of the hijab in public areas, and her protégé Jordan Bardella who may succeed Le Pen as prime minister of France has referred to the veil as a “tool of discrimination.” He has denounced the densely populated banlieue of Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, where he was up, and he has threatened to bar dual nationals from some of the most important governmental positions should his party win power.

Are voters turning a blind eye to racism?

According to aljazeera, The recent European Parliament elections saw the extreme right handily beat President Emmanuel Macron, who then announced the early polling. However, his bold bet has failed. With 33.15 percent of the vote on Sunday, National Rally won nearly one-third of the vote; the left-wing coalition New Popular Front came in second with 28.14 percent. Macron was humiliated once more as his centrist alliance received a mere 20.76 percent of the vote. Since then, thousands of people have gathered in the streets to express their opposition to the extreme right. 

According to Elias, a 27-year-old marketing professional, many Muslims are thinking of leaving France if the National Rally wins power. This is a tendency that has already started among some professions. More than 1,000 people participated in a poll earlier this year, with 140 of them being interviewed in-depth by the authors of a research titled La France, tu l’aimes mais tu la quittes. Citing the “harmful effects of Islamophobia,” they mentioned a “brain drain” of French Muslims leaving the nation for employment opportunities overseas. As reported by france24, In the three weeks leading up to France’s two-round legislative elections, which saw Marine Le Pen’s National Rally win a first round of voting on June 30 following its victory in European elections earlier in the month, these are just a handful of the dozens of racist attacks that local media in France documented.

Boycott Pairs Olympics 2024 due to racism

On election days, it seems like nobody cares about public rights. Everybody just seeks the votes. In a situation with racism and human rights violation the public should boycott the Olympics event. Throughout the ast, these issues are rising day  by day. The Olympics is a peaceful event but France is not going to be the best place for that event. Hence this event should be boycotted.