프랑스 조기 총선, 결선투표. 중도+좌파 연합의 승리, ‘We were so scared’: France’s centrist and leftwing voters breathe sigh of relief

 

프랑스 조기 총선 1차전에서 극우파 '국민연합 RN'이 1위를 했지만, 2차 결선 투표에서는, 극우파의 승리를 막기 위해 좌파와 중도파들의 연합해, 2차전에서는 '국민연합 RN'이 3위로 밀려났다.

 

유럽에서도 왜 인종차별,이민자 반대,우익민족주의가 발호하게 되었는가?

이러한 반동적 정치적 흐름들은 어느정도 지속될 것인가?

 

 

 

 

출처 - https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/07/we-were-so-scared-frances-centre-and-leftwing-voters-breathe-sigh-of-relief

 

‘We were so scared’: France’s centrist and leftwing voters breathe sigh of relief

 

Early election predictions of far-right majority were proved wrong but questions remain over future

 

Ashifa Kassam in Lyon

 

Sun 7 Jul 2024 21.51 BST

 

 

 

A nervous energy rippled through the crowd gathered at Lyon’s Place de la République. As the final polls closed in the most momentous election in recent memory, hundreds of people milled about, waiting to find out what would lie in store for France.

 

Just after 8pm, Florent Martins came running through the plaza, mobile phone in hand. “We won,” the 23-year-old yelled out, his voice shaking with disbelief as those around him exploded into cheers and hearty applause. “The left won!”

 

In a shock win, final results left the broad leftwing alliance as the biggest force in the French parliament, with the New Popular Front taking 182 seats.

 

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping, Ensemble, was in second place, with 163 seats, a stronger showing than expected. Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration National Rally came third with 143 seats.

 

Leftwing supporters celebrate - one with a placard that translates as 'The youth screw the RN' during a rally in Lyon after the second round of France's parliamentary elections

 

 

 

Leftwing supporters celebrate - one with a placard that translates as 'The youth screw the RN' during a rally in Lyon after the second round of France's parliamentary elections Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images

 

 

“It’s so good,” said Martins. “I’ve been in a panic all day.” Nearby, Veronique Leporte, 69, described the results as stunning. “It’s a huge relief,” she said. “We were so scared.”

 

 

It was a sentiment echoed across the country. In Paris cries of joy rang out as the projections sparked spontaneous hugs among strangers and several minutes of applause.

 

 

People celebrating at Place de la Republique in Paris

 

 

 

 

Celebrations also took place at Place de la Republique in Paris. Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

 

 

Thousands poured into Paris’s Place de la République to celebrate, waving signs that read “France is stitched together by migration” and “France says screw you to the RN,” echoing rallies in cities such as Toulouse and Nantes.

 

In the lead-up to the elections, polls had repeatedly suggested RN was poised to become the dominant force in the country’s national assembly. Early on Sunday, as voter turnout climbed to its highest figure in four decades, the question on everyone’s mind was whether the RN would win an outright majority.

 

By Sunday evening, neither suggestion had proved accurate. “I think this result is a surprise for everyone, whether you’re the fascists or, like me, on the left,” said Charles Domeignoz, 52, a longtime member of the France Unbowed (LFI) party.

 

“I think there are a lot of people who, like me, have been sleeping poorly and eating badly for a few weeks now,” he added. “And tonight it feels good, doesn’t it?”

 

For some, the sense of relief was marred by the realisation that the election had still bolstered the ranks of the RN, which has almost doubled the size of its 88-strong group in the outgoing parliament.

 

“I want Emmanuel Macron to resign,” said Stéphane, 37, calling on the French president to launch elections in the autumn. “If he has a little bit of courage and honesty, I think he should resign because after all, he participated in the rise of the extreme right.”

 

Two women celebrate the result of the second round of the legislative elections in Lyon, which has seen Marine Le Pen’s party unable to form a government.

 

 

Two women celebrate the result of the second round of the legislative elections in Lyon, which has seen Marine Le Pen’s party unable to form a government. Photograph: Laurent Cipriani/AP

 

 

Some of Sunday’s result can probably be attributed to the concerted, weeks-long effort to block the RN, one which intensified in recent days after the RN came out on top in the first round ballot.

 

 

From Montpellier to Marseille, people sprang into action in a bid to keep the far-right from the gates of power. More than 200 candidates withdrew between the first and second round of the elections, in an effort to build a united “republican front” to prevent the RN from winning.

 

 

Historians, lawyers, and Muslim leaders were among those who rallied people to vote against the RN, their efforts bolstered by the 10,000 Christians who signed on to a column describing the RN as a political force that offered “nothing but manipulation and illusion” as it eschewed solutions to instead scapegoat foreigners.

 

 

The RN’s myopic focus had failed, said Ali, 40. “We’re happy because we don’t like racism,” he added. “The RN didn’t talk about salaries, retirement, pensions. All they talked about was foreigners and Islam.”

 

 

Still, the weeks-long election had proved divisive, emboldening some who targeted Muslims and people of colour as the RN vowed to bar dual nationals from certain jobs, scrap nationality rights for children born and raised in France by foreign parents, and work towards banning headscarves in public places.

 

 

The atmosphere in the country was “extremely tense,” Raphaël Glucksmann, who led France’s leftist ticket in the recent European parliament elections, told France Inter radio last week. “France is on the cliff-edge and we don’t know if we’re going to jump.”

 

 

In Lyon on Sunday, dozens of shops had barricaded their windows, bracing themselves for the risk of violent protests. About 30,000 police had been deployed across the country as France’s interior minister voiced fears that some would seize on the result to cause “mayhem”.

 

 

Supporters of the leftwing New Popular Front gather at the Place de la République on Sunday.

View image in fullscreen

 

Supporters of the leftwing New Popular Front gather at the Place de la République on Sunday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

 

 

Launched in the early 1970s as the National Front, Le Pen’s party once included in its ranks former members of a Waffen-SS military unit under Nazi command during the second world war.

 

 

Rife with antisemitic, homophobic and racist views, the party was long a pariah and widely viewed as a danger to democracy. While she has spent much of the past decade working to soften the party’s image, its deep hostility towards immigrants and Muslims has continued.

 

 

On Sunday, as exit polls pointed to a polarised parliament, some wondered how exactly the results would pan out in the country’s national assembly.

 

 

Analysts warned that the election could usher in a prolonged period of paralysed politics in the eurozone’s second biggest economy, just as France gears up to host the Olympics in late July and as Europe continues to grapple with the war in Ukraine.

 

 

“It’s going to be complicated,” said one 29-year-old who asked not to be identified. “But that’s an issue for tomorrow. Because the left didn’t win an outright majority and we’ll see if they join forces with Macron’s centrists. But today is a good day.”

 

 

 

 

 

2차 결선 투표 결과 발표 반응

 

NFP (신인민전선) - 중도+좌파 연합 (좌), 국민연합 (우) 

 

 

NFP (신인민전선) 지지자 인터뷰. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

국민연합 (RN) 측, 선거 결과 후, 인터뷰