French Muslims said their vote in the second round of the presidential election was "forced", as they did not elect the candidate they wanted so much as they voted for "the least harmful".

In this regard, Anadolu Agency polled the opinions of a number of Muslim voters who voted in Lyon - the third largest French city in terms of population - in the morning period, specifically before 12:00 local time (10.00 GMT).

Polling stations opened this morning at eight o'clock local time (6:00 GMT) to 48.7 million registered voters, and closed at seven o'clock (17:00 GMT) in small cities, and eight in large cities.

The French choose between the outgoing President of the Republic on the Move party, Emmanuel Macron, and the leader of the National Rally Party, Marine Le Pen, after they obtained the highest results in the first round.

strategic vote

In front of a polling station in Lyon, Omar (pseudonym), an electronics engineer of Moroccan origin, said, "I vote strategically because whoever represented me was excluded in the first round."

"Unfortunately, I vote for the least harmful candidate and not for one who expresses my interests, whether with regard to the work file or social life," he added.

He lamented, "I voted for Macron in the first and second rounds of 2017. He seemed like an ambitious young man with promises and a bright vision for France. This time, I chose to vote for Melenchon (Jean-Luc Melenchon, the losing candidate in the first round for the "France Proud" party) in the current election. "Hoping to pass to the second round and compete with Macron instead of Le Pen, but he was not lucky."

According to opinion polls conducted by the Institute for Opinion Studies and Marketing in France and Abroad "IFOP", 70% of French Muslims voted in the first round in favor of Melenchon, taking the third place with a rate of (21.95%).


Omar - who has lived in France for more than 10 years, and obtained French citizenship after studying in its universities and working in its institutions - believed that he should participate in this entitlement because he is concerned with all the laws enacted in the country, just like the rest of the French.

As for his friend Osama - a Tunisian who was accompanying Omar to the polling station, and has not yet obtained French citizenship - he confirmed that "if I had the opportunity, I would vote for Macron without hesitation."

He continued, "I think that Macron could not fully implement his electoral program in 2017, due to the crises that the country experienced during his presidential term, as he faced the protests of the yellow jackets movement and then the repercussions of the Corona epidemic, and before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the Ukraine war broke out and prices skyrocketed. I think he deserves a second chance to show what he has."

According to a 2017 poll by Opinion Way, more than two million French Muslims voted for Macron.

blank paper

As for Nozha, who preferred not to disclose her origins, given that she was born in France to a French mother, she chose to put a blank piece of paper because she always voted for Republicans.

"It is true that the Republican Party has retreated shamefully, and is no longer loyal to its current as it was in the past, but I refuse to change direction because I am confident in the future and I am confident in its return to competition... It is a matter of time and choosing a leader," she said.

Away from the polling station, Sana (a pseudonym), a French woman with a headscarf of Tunisian origin, said, "We agreed to vote for Macron... Although Le Pen said during the television debate that she does not fight Islam, and tried to soften her militant image, she did not reduce her strictness towards the veil. And she considered it a uniform imposed by what she called Islamists.

"We hope that the opinion polls will be believed, because I do not want to pay a fine for wearing the hijab in public places... the restrictions we are experiencing in the workplace are enough," she said, laughing.

Opinion polls favor Emmanuel Macron ahead of Marine Le Pen (Agencies)

Vote for Le Pen

Contrary to all of these, Ali (a pseudonym) decided to give his vote to Le Pen, and said, "My decision stems from my desire, first, to give Le Pen a chance to become the first woman elected to head the Elysee, and secondly, for my confidence that what is said during election campaigns is not actually implemented on the ground... There are circumstances, political context and common interests that govern the internal policies of countries."

The latest poll conducted by the French company Ipsos for Studies and Research expected Macron to win the second round with 57.5%, compared to 42.5% for Marine Le Pen.

According to a statement by the French Ministry of the Interior, the voter turnout reached 26.41% at 12:00 noon Paris time (10:00 GMT), while it reached 28.23% at the same time in the second round of the 2017 elections.

The preliminary results are likely to be released late on Sunday, with the final results expected on Monday.

Next Wednesday, April 27, i.e. 3 days after the polls, the country's Constitutional Council issues its decision approving the final results, and announces the new head of state.

Voters will be called to the polls again on June 12 and 19, for the legislative elections.