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Second round of election campaign French parliamentary electionsThis Friday, the campaign ends at midnight and the excitement is high. The stakes are high: the far right takes power. Citizens from all over the world, including Algerian immigrants, are participating in the campaign. TSA tracks down one of the volunteers, Mouloud*.
Mardi
I was joined by Mouloud, a young retiree who had arranged to meet us at the Gare du Nord station in Paris. After coffee, we headed to the headquarters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s political party, La France Insoumise (LFI), near the Gare de l’Est station in Paris.
He needed to collect a pack of 1,000 leaflets. At the scene, a truck unloaded two pallets. We looked and saw that it was a pack of leaflets in the name of the New People’s Front (NFP).
On the sidewalk, a small group of people were waiting. The name of the city of Rouen appeared several times. Moulou asked them why. “We are going there by bus to support a candidate of the New Popular Front,” he was told.
“Rouen? Too far for us. We prefer to haul in Paris,” Moulou replied, to which a volunteer said, “So come back at 3pm, as tradition has it, we will split up and haul in the suburbs.”
After the truck left, we went into the headquarters and told the manager we were there to pick up the “arming material” we had ordered from the LFI website. He returned with the package in question. Mouloud weighed it, then said, “Can I have another?”
We took out two bags. Meanwhile, the group in Rouen grew to around 50 volunteers. Place de Clichy is in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.
The idea was to join the volunteers they had met the day before, who had suggested that Mulu take part in the leaflet distribution operation as per the schedule posted on the “Win in 5 Days” website.
This is a website that offers a WhatsApp loop that allows volunteers from the same location to get in touch. At the Blanche metro exit, we discovered the famous Moulin Rouge, which is under construction, and had the opportunity to take photos.
At the site, leaflets were handed out to passers-by or stuffed into mailboxes at the building. This included support for candidate Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) Léa Balage El Mariky.
It’s already 12:30pm, so snacks and then coffee. Once again, leaflets are distributed in mailboxes. Mouloud checks the constituency map on his phone. Just one street away, we are in the 18th arrondissement, where Aymeric Caron of LFI has already been elected in the first round of elections, so there is no need to distribute leaflets.
At 3:00 pm, we returned to the LFI headquarters. A group of volunteers headed to Meaux, and we joined them.
Mouloud explained to me that in Meaux, it was to support the LFI candidate Amel Bentoussi, a figure opposed to police violence who was at the top of the list of candidates for the National Rally (RN).
LR candidate Régis Sarazin withdrew without calling for a fight against the RN. This made Mouloud jump, as he found it disgusting that he did not call for a blockade of the RN.
He referred me to the statement made by Marine Tondelier, president of the European Ecologie Les Verts party, to the French Inter morning show, where she explained: “She had angry tears in her eyes when she reminded the microphone that Bruno Le Maire, the current president of the French national team, remains in the same position, without any intention of stopping the extreme right.
When we arrived at Meaux station, a local activist was waiting for us. Soon two groups formed, one for the city center and one for the suburbs.
We chose the suburbs and looked for a bus to the Grosse Pierre district. Once there, we found Yannis surrounded by a group of volunteers.
He explained the political situation in Meaux to us, and then we divided into groups, with packets of leaflets in hand, and climbed the stairs of buildings to meet residents “door to door”.
In the evening, the operation was over. The whole team had coffee together. Some people took the opportunity to exchange phone numbers. Mulu said he was ready to come back the next day.
Wednesday
The next day, after arriving at Meaux station, we distributed new leaflets in a shopping street in the city center, accompanied by volunteers, including veteran activists with rich experience in local political life.
In the city center, the reception was different from that in the suburbs. Although most passers-by agreed to accept the flyers handed to them, a few refused to accept them, and some even insulted the volunteers.
The exchanges with passers-by were more peaceful, indicating that they did not want to vote for the candidates of the New Popular Front (NFP), the alliance of left-wing parties to which the LFI belongs, but various arguments also emerged: the refusal to vote on immigration, anti-Semitism should come from the left, it is not safe there.
We sometimes hear the same things said by RN leaders in the media. This was the case with the Palestinian headscarf worn by Rima Hassan and Jean-Luc Mélenchon together on the night of the first round results legislationSunday, June 30, 2024. A passerby who claimed to be an RN supporter said: “There is also a person with this scarf around his neck,” alluding to Rima Hassan.
Some media outlets close to the extreme right have had their lies hammered back 100 times.
In the long run they will leave a lasting impression in some people’s memory, as is the case with these small villages in the Aisne, where the RN is only 60%, while in the cities it collapses.
Jordan Bardella, president of the RN, is a master of this manipulation of public opinion. In this little game, everything goes well: the veil, Hamas, Jean-Luc Mélenchon are described as anti-Semitic, and the National Front is a continuation of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front, who confirms that the gas chambers are “history”.
In the evening, we returned to Gare du Nord. At each station entrance, volunteers handed out NFP leaflets. Mouloud walked past them, raised his thumb and said, “Great, good luck,” earning smiles from the volunteers, some of whom were making their first weapons.
Thursday
This morning, in front of the Gare de l’Est, it was the turn of CGT union activists to distribute leaflets. They were everywhere, next to the big staircase leading to the Gare du Nord station and also in front of the main exits. The union’s boss, Sophie Binet, explicitly appealed to the RN’s threats.
On the sidewalk, a union member explained to a young colleague: “They asked us not to distribute food within the station premises because it is prohibited, but here we have rights.”
In the subway below the station, CGT activists were again handing out leaflets near the gates. Next to them, an NFP volunteer, packet of leaflets in hand, was haranguing users who had rushed onto the platform.
Snack time again with Moulou. He tells of his morning in Batignolles, near the Pont Cardinet station that serves the new court.
He was pleased to have actually distributed the 2,000 flyers he had and filled dozens of mailboxes in the building lobby.
The afternoon should be spent joining the schedule of local volunteers via WhatsApp loop.
Friday
Early in the morning, Mulu informed me via text message that he was returning to Mo City.
On the 5 Days to Win website, the WhatsApp loop dedicated to the 17th arrondissement is full of exchanges between volunteers. “Do you have a lot of leaflets for tomorrow?” asks Laureline. Antoine replies that he has some: “If you want, I can give you some at Pont Cardinet station”.
Aïcha apologizes for having to withdraw from the loop due to professional obligations, as she will “no longer have the opportunity to tow until the end of the event”, but she is happy about the experience: “It has allowed us to build a network, a strength, with contacts that will remain in the future.”
There is only one day left to fight the national rally. Official campaigning will end at midnight this Friday, July 5, to allow time for reflection before voting on Sunday.
*Name has been changed
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