French election campaign heats up across the country
General election campaign heats up in towns and villages across France, with just weeks to go until the first-round of voting.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen has more.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen has more.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00The northern beaches of France sparkle in the early summer sunshine.
00:05This part of the country is a bright spot for the far right.
00:09But despite the wave of support for the national rally in the EU elections on June the 9th,
00:15leftist campaigners are hoping for success here once again.
00:19This region of France last had a socialist MP 12 years ago,
00:24and the left-wing are urging people to vote against both the government and the far right
00:30and what they say are extremist immigration policies.
00:34Every day people who have been exiled are harassed.
00:38Every other day the refugee camps are cleared.
00:41Their living conditions are horrible.
00:43So for me, Macron and Le Pen are the same thing, and we must fight both of them with the same force.
00:48A short drive inland and we reach a nearby village.
00:52The weekly market is on, and as shoppers eye up the produce, the politicians eye up potential voters.
01:01The far right's national rally candidate here is Marc De Fleurion.
01:05In the previous general election in 2022, he lost out in a runoff.
01:10The national rally wants to expel more migrants and stop family reunifications,
01:15and it hopes a tough line on immigration will propel it to power.
01:22Expenses have skyrocketed because of immigration.
01:27Security has been lowered by the immigration streams,
01:35and the identity also of French society is under threat.
01:43The people in Audruyc have had the same centre-right Republican MP since 2017.
01:49He is running for re-election with a defiant message for extremist parties.
01:54I will vote for whatever is good for the constituents,
01:57and I will vote against whatever is wrong for my constituents.
02:00And we'll see.
02:02You know, my line is very clear.
02:04We have no alliance, no deal with the extremists.
02:08If they come from the far right or if they come from the far left,
02:11we have no alliance with them because we know the history of our country.
02:16This constituency ranges from the whole of the port city of Calais
02:20to small market squares in countryside villages.
02:23It's small constituencies like these, the village of Audruyc in northern France,
02:28that the national rally really needs to win if they are to gain
02:32the 200 more MPs they need to win a parliamentary majority.
02:37A far-right victory is something that the president is determined to stop,
02:42both in this general election and in the presidential vote in three years' time.
02:47I do not want to give the keys to power to the far right in 2027,
02:53so I'm totally responsible for having triggered a movement of clarification,
02:57firstly because the French asked us to do so on June 9th.
03:01When 50% of French people vote for the extremes,
03:04when you do not have a majority in the Assembly,
03:07you cannot tell them we continue as if nothing had happened.
03:10You're not respecting them, you're not hearing them.
03:13The first round of what has been described as an historic election
03:17will be held in just over two weeks.
03:19At that point, the political landscape of France for the next five years
03:24will start to come into focus at a national and a local level.
03:35With a mix of hopes and fears across the country
03:38that it could be painted the navy blue of the National Rally Party.
03:42Ross Cullen, CGTN, Autruik, Northern France.