French voters turning to maverick candidates
Major parties may have worn out their welcome as economy lags
PARIS Tech consultant Rafik AitOufella says he’s tired of France’s two major parties — which have taken turns ruling the country for decades — and their worn-out solutions.
“Work and security are considered values for the right while solidarity and generosity are values of the left,” said Ait-Oufella, 38. “There is no form of consensus to regroup and move forward.”
Such attitudes explain why an independent, a far-right populist and a far-left dark horse are showing surprising strength going into Sunday’s presidential election.
Polls show anti-immigration populist Marine Le Pen and independent centrist Emmanuel Macron are running neck-and-neck at 23% and 24% in Sunday’s first round.
Close behind is Conservative François Fillon, a previous frontrunner who fell to 19.5% after a scandal involving using public funds to pay family members for questionable government work. Far-left candidate Jean Luc Melenchon, is a surprise contender with 18%.
“The two parties that have dominated French political life in the last 30 years — the traditional Socialist and the Republican parties — have been struggling,” said political analyst Pierre Haski. “French voters are expressing their fatigue with the old establishment.”
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two face a runoff on May 7. Eleven candidates are seeking a five-year term as president.
Incumbent Socialist President François Hollande opted not to run for re-election because of sagging popularity over France’s economic stagnation and a string of terrorist attacks.
“The three outstanding figures in these elections — Le Pen, Macron and Melenchon — have platforms which mark a rupture in one way or another,” Haski said.
Their support appears driven by voters’ fears of economic globalization and growing immigration, and mistrust of the establishment.
Le Pen’s National Front has gained the most from the political climate. She wants to pull France out of the EU and suspend immigration from the Middle East and North Africa.
Left Party nominee Melenchon has surged in the polls with a nationalist, populist message.
“French voters are express ing their fatigue with the old establishment.”
Pierre Haski,
political analyst