CONFLANS SAINTE-HONORINE/TOURS, France (Reuters) – Following are some views of some voters as France voted in a parliamentary election on Sunday that could see the far-right National Rally(RN) emerge as the dominant political force.
Centrist President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election after his ticket was trounced by the RN in European Parliament elections last month, a move apparently aimed at wrong-footing the party.
“I’m mad at the government and in particular at the president that they have taken this irresponsible risk,” said Frederic Maillard, a doctor from the central town of Tours.
“The country is facing three radically opposed views of society”, said Olivier Grisal, a retiree, as he walked towards his polling site in the middle-class town of Conflans Sainte-Honorine, west of Paris, with his wife.
“There’s the far right, there is Macronism which in my view also has dangerous and dictatorial tendencies and then there’s the left which is also not great,” he said.
Ranaivoatisan Voahirana, who works in the medical sector, said she voted for the government’s candidate but was “almost certain” the National Rally would win.
“People won’t bother to hide their racism any more”, she said.
A longtime pariah for many due to its history of racism and antisemitism, the RN has sought to clean up its image and denies accusations of racism. Its platform taps into voter anger at Macron over straitened household budgets, security, and immigration worries.
“We need to reset the clocks,” said Dorian Garro, 21, who works as a cook, adding that his vote was mostly motivated by a desire for more law and order. “Macron has done nothing to improve security.” Garro declined to say who he had voted for.
Frederic Wallet, a construction worker, said he would enter and an empty ballot as he couldn’t identify with any of the choices on offer.
“Good luck France, it will be a mess,” he said.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel and Ingrid Melander; Editing by Frances Kerry)
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