Illustration of this struggle in the city of Lyon, where an outgoing MP was overtaken by his young rival from the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (NUPES) in the first round of general elections.
Thomas Rudigoz (Candidate of the Renaissance Party, new name of La République en Marche) and his team immortalize their campaign day this Thursday morning. They prepare to distribute leaflets and solicit voters at a market in Lyon’s first Rhône district.
In the first round, the incumbent came second. In 2017, this former district mayor was carried by Emmanuel Macron’s wave of La République en Marche.
I was hoping to arrive with some personal added value perhaps in a handkerchief. There’s a difference that’s a little bigger than I thought, four and a half percent, he confides.
This shopkeeper realizes that the result was close in the first round and promises the outgoing surrogate that she will keep her fingers crossed for him in the second round.
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
“We have to hope that there will be a leap from our electorate, from the LR electorate [droite] and then of our fellow citizens who do not want Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s programme. »
— A quote from Thomas Rudigoz, deputy candidate for re-election
Gesture of support for Thomas Rudigoz. In the background, activists from her NUPES competitor Aurélie Gries are also distributing ballots. They brought a large poster where we see the life-size photo of the candidate and that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
Others, on the other hand, do not want to hear anything from the candidates from Emmanuel Macron’s camp.
Fabien Namias, a district resident, says he will vote for NUPES because we really need it to bring things back into balance, at least in terms of purchasing power.
“I think that today we have a bit of a problem living together and I think it would be good for everyone to have a project that is a little bit more based on solidarity between people. »
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
A little further on, Christian Lupo doesn’t mince his words. “So far we have cost Macron five years. It’s a disaster for me. I’m 62, he’s the worst president I’ve ever seen. All this pressure he put on us for five years! We did demonstrations, we did everything. »
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
In this Lyon constituency, in which many pensioners and highly qualified people live, but which also has a high proportion of social housing, the left-wing presidential candidates received around 40 percent of the votes in the first ballot. There Jean-Luc Mélenchon ended up in the lead.
The presidential camp is waving the red danger, the impending paralysis, should the deputies of the united left ever enter the National Assembly in force.
This position is also shared by Gérard Chavas, who came to Lyon to sell his ready meals. If necessary, he predicts chaos.
This merchant says living together in the National Assembly is a “bazaar”. The last period of coexistence in France (1997-2002) began after the pluralist left, which mainly included the socialists and the communists, won an absolute majority on June 1, 1997. The next day, President Jacques Chirac appointed the socialist Lionel Jospin prime minister.
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
Aurélie Gries, the NUPES candidate from rebellious France, condemned this fear speech.
She speaks out by predicting the worst if her rival’s camp wins an outright majority on Sunday: We envision it being a program in continuity with the past five years. So: social collapse, democratic denial and neglect of the climate crisis.
NUPES’ Aurélie Gries came first in the first round of the general elections in the Rhône’s first constituency. She is deputy mayor of the seventh arrondissement of Lyon and responsible for early childhood care and community life. She is also a social worker in a correctional facility for minors.
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
On this Thursday afternoon, Aurélie Gries advertises with her parents after school. She believes she can still count on a reservoir of votes on the left.
And she doesn’t believe there is an anti-Mélenchon front in the constituency.
“I have 37.75% of the votes. I’m leading against Macronie, La République en Marche. And there’s really an interest in voting because we can stand. »
— A quote from Aurélie Gries to a local resident who came to hand her a ballot paper
Above all, it will be necessary for young people to vote. They largely avoided the ballot box in the first round of the general election. NUPES promises to improve their lot.
Aurélie Gries explains to a young woman that her education plans to increase youth benefits.
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
Isabelle, who has just spoken to Aurélie Gries, explains what she expects from a deputy: “That there can be a lot more housing as many families are fighting for it. And a few more kindergartens. I struggled to get a place for my two daughters. »
Photo: Radio Canada / Anyck Béraud
If Aurélie Gries and her team are targeting the sector at the end of the campaign, it is because the first legislative round in that district, which elected Jean-Luc Mélenchon as president, faced heavy abstention. It is often voters on the left, in Lyon and elsewhere in France, who abstain from voting the most, she adds.
The key to this second round of parliamentary voting: convincing the undecided and encouraging the abstentions to go to the polls this time.