Back to the polls. Voters in three overseas constituencies are summoned again on Sunday (April 2nd), after the Constitutional Council's decision to invalidate last June's results, against the backdrop of the Israeli political crisis and diplomatic tensions between Paris and Rabat.

After noting "irregularities" and "maneuvers" of his supporters "likely to alter the sincerity of the election", the Constitutional Council cancelled the victory of the controversial deputy related LR Meyer Habib in the 8th constituency of the French abroad, which includes several countries around the Mediterranean, including Israel, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

He also invalidated two other elections, for "dysfunctions" during electronic voting: that of Nupes Karim Ben Cheïkh in the 9th constituency (Maghreb and West Africa) and that of Renaissance MP Eléonore Caroit in the 2nd (Latin America and the Caribbean).

The results of the first round will be known this weekend, and the second on April 16.

Israeli political crisis

In the 8th district, French-Israeli businessman Meyer Habib, 61, close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, returns to voters in the midst of a political crisis in Israel, after nearly three months of massive mobilization against the project to reform the judicial system.

Can these local upheavals influence French voters? Former Secretary of State for the Interior Alain Marleix assures AFP that the electoral redistribution carried out under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012) leading to the creation of 9 seats of deputies for the French abroad since the legislative elections of 2012, "the political context does not play a role" on the election.

He acknowledges, however, that he took into account "many recitals" in order to avoid Israel ending up in the same constituency as neighboring countries.

"The MP cannot go and campaign in Jordan. That would have posed huge security problems for him," he said.

Meyer Habib faces in particular the macronist Deborah Abisror-de Lieme, whom he had beaten by only 193 votes last year in an election which, according to the Constitutional Council, has experienced irregularities such as "messages calling to vote" for the candidate sent by his supporters on election day or proposing to voters to vote "by Internet in their place".

On Twitter, her rival expressed her "infinite respect to the Israeli people who are fighting for their democracy," after recent protests against Benjamin Netanyahu's justice reform.

Like all friends of 🇮🇱 I did not sleep that night.
Infinite respect for the people 🇮🇱 who fight for their democracy.
Let us hope quickly for an outcome that will allow us to regain the unity of this country that we love.

— Deborah Abisror - de Lieme (@DeborahLieme) March 27, 2023

"Call Centers"

But his attacks focus mainly on the legal troubles of Meyer Habib, targeted by an investigation for "embezzlement of public funds", concerning the remuneration of his parliamentary collaborators.

In an electric climate, Deborah Abisror-de Lieme last week issued a formal notice, through her lawyer, Meyer Habib, again accusing her of having set up "call centers".

In the 9th constituency, which includes the Maghreb and West Africa, the stakes are heightened by the degraded diplomatic relations between Paris and Rabat, while Morocco has the largest French community in the area with some 52,000 nationals.

In the midst of warming between France and Algeria, the Moroccan press scrutinizes the candidates' positions on Western Sahara, the subject of a conflict with Algiers.

The question is whether Tunis-born Nupes Karim Ben Cheikh will regain his seat at the Palais Bourbon, after defeating former Macronist minister Elisabeth Moreno in June.

He is in favour of Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, as is his opponent, M'jid el Guerrab, a former LREM MP who is running as an independent.

He was sentenced in May 2022 to one year in prison and two years of ineligibility (for "voluntary violence" on former socialist leader Boris Faure), a sentence against which he appealed.

Both are running against Caroline Traverse, a lawyer from Casablanca, invested by Renaissance. Among the 15 candidates, to note the ex-prisoner Grégory Zaoui, presented as the "brain" of the carbon tax scam.

In the 2nd constituency, Eléonore Caroit (Renaissance), who easily won with 57.42% of the vote, put her seat at stake against the Franco-Chilean Christian Rodriguez (42.58%).

With AFP

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