The sixth constituency of Seine-Maritime could well swing to the far right this Sunday, July 7, during the second round of the legislative elections. In this territory on the English Channel, between Le Havre and Calais, a 2 and a half hour drive from Paris, the outgoing communist MP risks losing his seat to an RN candidate who came out on top with 44% of the vote in the first round.
At the Criel-sur-Mer market, everyone, or almost everyone, knows Sébastien Jumel. For seven years, the very media-friendly outgoing communist MP has been touring his constituency every weekend. And it’s paying off: in the first round, he got more votes than in 2022: ” 4,500 more votes than in the 2022 legislative elections… But you have not missed the fact that there is a tsunami of “brown anger” “, comments the elected official. Last Sundaythe RN came in 10 points ahead of the candidate New Popular Front.
Sébastien Jumel received the support of the LR president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, and even of the Minister of the Interior, Gerald DarmaninThe communist deputy nevertheless expressed his concern: ” It will come down to a few hundred votes… » He analyses : “When we are here, at the very end of Seine-Maritime, sometimes we can forget the living areas like ours. Besides, it is a source of immense anger. “Claudine Pariche, the non-partisan deputy mayor of the village, shares this opinion: ” We don’t exist, only Paris exists! » However, she admits to despairing when, during the counting, she sees the National Rally ballots.
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So Sébastien Jumel, wearing a dark suit and sneakers, tirelessly repeats the same words to the voters he meets. To a resident who asks him how he is, he replies: “ It will be better on Sunday. We have to hold on, we have to mobilize. »
An RN candidate who campaigns on mosques… without knowing if there are any in his constituency
Sébastien Jumel’s RN opponent for this second round is called Patrice Martin, a 60-year-old farmer who is running for the second time. He is campaigning in a town whose entrance sign is still upside down, a stigma of the crisis that shook the agricultural world at the beginning of the year.
With a handful of activists, Patrice Martin drops leaflets in mailboxes. The first thing is purchasing power. Then, immigration. These people, they come in Franceit’s not complicated […] They are here to take advantage of the French system. For the most part, not all. There are many foreigners who are here to take advantage of the system and, unfortunately, also to harm us. Mosques are being built… “Asked whether there is a mosque in his constituency, the candidate remains evasive: ” There are mosques in every city in France… In Dieppe, there is perhaps a mosque. “The National Rally candidate confesses that he does not know if there is really a mosque in the town of Dieppe.
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And in this town, this speech does not shock many people. Quite the contrary. A passer-by confides that what he likes about the RN candidate is his ” franchise ” Regarding ” those foreigners who have no intention of working, etc. “He welcomes a clear response from the candidate who says that they must ” send back ” The man says he is being called ” Boche ” and of ” Nazi “, which leaves him ” indifferent. »
In this constituency, as everywhere in France, people are speaking out and tensions are rising: in recent days, both sides have accused each other of verbal and even physical violence.
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