In the West Indies, Marine Le Pen takes advantage of the “anti-Macron” vote

• Although largely beaten by Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen was able to count on overseas voters, and especially the West Indies, where she obtained more than 60% in the second round.

• It is above all the barrage vote for Macron that benefited the RN candidate, in territories very mobilized against the government's vaccination policy.

An electoral result almost inverted mirror of the Metropolis.

In the West Indies, Marine Le Pen won everything, partly capitalizing on the rejection embodied by the Head of State.

"It was anything but Macron," says Marissa, who lives in Guadeloupe, with

.

“There were his confinements, his health pass, and even his vaccines.

Enough is enough.

On the Guyana side, Philippe is disappointed with the policy pursued by LREM over the five-year term: “In 2017 I voted for Macron.

There it was out of the question that I vote again for him after the years that we have just passed.

This year, in the first round, I voted Mélenchon, but he did not pass.

»

Overseas, and especially the West Indies, were the fervent supporters of the candidate of the National Rally.

It wins 69.60% in Guadeloupe (against 23.87% in 2017), 60.87% in Martinique (22.45% in 2017), 60.70% in Guyana (35.11% in 2017) , 50.69% in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (36.71% in 2017), as well as in Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin with 55.42% (34.97% in 2017).

"Compared to five years ago, there has been an inversion of the results, and this is particularly obvious with Guadeloupe", explains Mikaa Mered, secretary general of the Overseas Chair of Sciences po Paris.

This year, this result may be all the more surprising since in the first round, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was in the lead in most of the West Indies: Guadeloupe (56.2%), Martinique (53.1%), Guyana (50 .6%).

Marine #LePen has a better score than in 2017 everywhere #Overseas… except in #NewCaledonia.

Its most notable progress is in #Guadeloupe (+44.7 points) and Martinique (+38.4 points) thanks to the massive transfer of votes from @JLMelenchon.

pic.twitter.com/gVRkSLZMuy

— Sciences Po Overseas Chair (@ChaireOutreMer) April 24, 2022

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Macron pays the costs of his vaccine and health policy

For the academic, several factors come into play: "In the West Indies there is a feeling of downgrading, disrepute and estrangement vis-à-vis the policies put in place by the government, as much on the side of the population as of the Locally elected.

The fact that the outgoing president did not campaign in the Overseas Territories reinforced this impression: apart from a general interview given to France Télévisions and broadcast on La Première, Emmanuel Macron did not specifically address the overseas.

In a press release, the Socialist Party of Guadeloupe thus justifies the results by "the expression of a powerful sanction vote against the results of Emmanuel Macron and his governments".

"Beyond the personality of Emmanuel Macron, there is a chronic fed up," continues Mikaa Mered.

The five-year term was marked by the health and vaccination crisis.

“With us, the vaccination obligation for caregivers has not passed.

Nobody listens to what we have to say.

So some take action, sometimes violent, ”adds Marissa, in reference to last November when many Guadeloupeans expressed their dissatisfaction in the street.

“And here too, we are not listened to.

The government preferred to respond with violence.

»

In the health field, the difficulties are significant.

Water cuts remain very frequent, and there are very few intensive care beds compared to the population, especially in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

At the time of the peaks of Covid-19 contamination, “it created an inability to treat all the sick on the spot” advances Mikaa Mered.

Patients with Covid-19 therefore had to be transferred to mainland France.

Confinements and curfews have been longer and more severe.

“In the West Indies, it was a double penalty,” he underlines.

This year, Marine Le Pen has really bet on the Overseas

"This rejection of Emmanuel Macron is stronger than the ideas defended by Marine Le Pen," says the specialist.

This year, the Overseas was indeed a structural element of the RN program.

Marine Le Pen had traveled to Mayotte and Réunion to discuss issues specific to the Indian Ocean, then to Guadeloupe to address those of the Caribbean.

In 2017 she had only held a meeting in Guyana.

In addition, Marine Le Pen succeeded in "taking on board and embodying the protest ideas for the second round", while Jean-Luc Mélenchon's voting instructions - "not a voice for the far right" -, been "too vague to be followed, and too little relayed by local elected officials".

For Emmanuel Macron, the construction site in Overseas therefore promises to be immense, beyond high-risk legislative elections on site.

"It's a safe bet that the Mélenchon vote will be perceived again, bounces Mikaa Mered.

There, they will be able to qualify in the second round or even win the bet.

But since Macron was elected, there may also be a demobilization.

The average rate of abstention in the second round of the presidential election in Overseas was already 51.29%.

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Elections

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• Elections

• Presidential election 2022

• Marine Le Pen

• Overseas

• Emmanuel Macron