French Presidential Poll

[Las-Cobas]

Not if you drink their bottled water!

[Christopher]

Different in what way? Kick the blacks/browns/anyone who's not Aryan out isn't new. Doesn't matter what else she says, even if it's free currant buns for everyone and a fiver out of the till, she's a racist and doesn't deserve a single vote.

Mme Le Pen has her 500 signatures. Interesting to see if she will spoil the party (First round) as her Father did some time ago!

At least she brings different idea's to the table.
The UK has shown coalitions do not work, irrespective of the will of the people. We have a choice, the extreme left or the extreme right, The middle ground does not work.

[Las-Cobas]

Different in what way? Kick the blacks/browns/anyone who's not Aryan out isn't new. Doesn't matter what else she says, even if it's free currant buns for everyone and a fiver out of the till, she's a racist and doesn't deserve a single vote.

You have obviously closely watched her debates on television, listened to her discussions at local venue's in between customers and that has given you the evidence to make your wild accusations. In a democracy every politician is entitled to a public platform to express their views to their electors. I presume you are registered to vote in Avignon Christopher?

Or do you vote in that foreign country Cameronland , where you do not live.

[Christopher]

Different in what way? Kick the blacks/browns/anyone who's not Aryan out isn't new. Doesn't matter what else she says, even if it's free currant buns for everyone and a fiver out of the till, she's a racist and doesn't deserve a single vote.

You have obviously closely watched her debates on television, listened to her discussions at local venue's in between customers and that has given you the evidence to make your wild accusations. In a democracy every politician is entitled to a public platform to express their views to their electors. I presume you are registered to vote in Avignon Christopher?

Or do you vote in that foreign country Cameronland , where you do not live.

I live in Politeland.

[montgolfiere]

i cant vote in blighty and i cant vote in national elections here....so what sort of Democratic europe does that suggest??
probably ready to be taken over by the fascists...(again)

[Las-Cobas]

i cant vote in blighty and i cant vote in national elections here....so what sort of Democratic europe does that suggest??
probably ready to be taken over by the fascists...(again)

As you use the term blighty, you obviously have Hindustani connections, or ex Raj. If you are under 15 years outside the UK, you still have the right to vote in UK elections. You can of course apply for Nationality in your country of residence, and obtain the right to vote, that way.
Fascists, were the anti authoritarian regime in Italy. Europe is a democratic institution, where most countries represented are to the left of centre. If you want a voice in your community, become a Conseillers Municipaux, you can then have an influence on your community.
Obviously you are unable to become Le Maire or an Adjoint, as they represent the Etat.

I wish you luck on your quest for political inclusion in France, and suggest that within the Lutte Ouvrièr, you maybe able to find a common ground.

[peter]

The Telegraph reckons that we reckon that Sarkozy will be re-elected :

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatn ... rkozy.html

But, then again, they would, wouldn't they ?

[peter]

The next French presidential election will be held on 22 April 2012 with a run off on 6 May 2012 if required,

In total, 10 candidates were formalized at a plenary session of the Constitutional Council, including :

[catalanglais]

Did anyone watch Des paroles et des actes last night?

I detest Sarko but there is no denying that, at this type of thing, he excels.

http://www.francetv.fr/2012/emissions/d ... -des-actes

[Las-Cobas]

Did anyone watch Des paroles et des actes last night?

NO

[Dark Island]

So no one has seen that if elected F H will reduce unemployment by employing shed loads of civil servants!!!
No prize for working out who will be paying for this . It wont be the French who claim RMI & other such benifits will it?

[peter]

It already feels as if I am the only one paying for everything ...

[Genghis Cohen]

What a choice for the electors!

Get out of Europe, ditch the Euro, shoot the capitalist running dogs, run the country on wind power, bring back potectionism!

All we need now is a move to restore the Bourbons and give back power to the church and we'll have a full set of mad cap ideas!

Genghis Cohen

[alex hampshire]

It already feels as if I am the only one paying for everything ...

Thank you Peter.

[Albert]

I enjoyed going to the Polling station today with my neighbours, as an "Observer" (without any UN credentials, ha ha), just to see how the system works. Interesting differences with the UK:

a) Your vote is secret, unlike the UK, where your vote can be traced back to you. There seemed no way of doing that here;
b) Each candidate has a voting slip (simply a piece of paper with his/her name on it); In UK there is the "Ballot paper", with all of the candidates' names on it;
c) The envelope, with the voting slip of your one selected candidate is placed into a transparent "ballot box". Not sure why it is transparent. Surely an opaque ballot box is just as good and removes the need for the "envelope".

Overall, I sensed a tighter system that in UK. I won't bore with the details, but it seems more difficult to "impersonate" someone else, as it seems you have to present your Poll Card (advisable in UK, but not mandatory) before you are given an envelope.

Apparently, at 8 o’clock tonight 2 faces will appear on the TV - the first 2 in the poll.

[catalanglais]

And no surprises as to who's faces appeared.

What IS surprising, perhaps, is the extraordinarily strong score of 20% (and third place) to Marine Le Pen.

[catalanglais]

Le Pen has done particularly well in the PO and the Aude. Heading the list in some places. The highest percentage I have seen for her so far is 37% in Port la Nouvelle!

According to L'Indep Carcassonne after 93% of votes counted, Le Pen will be in second position in the Aude with more than 23% of the vote, behind Hollande who has 30% and ahead of Sarko who has nearly 22%.

[Las-Cobas]

It would appear that in final return from the Interior Ministry, show that apart from the Grand Ville of Perpignan, Marine le Pen, came top of the poll in every other Villes of the Pyrénées Orientales. So the poll in the other place, was 100% correct, and clearly showed they had their finger on the pulse of the PO. So why pull a pre election poll that they proved was in tune with the majority of residents. ?????

Or are they unsure of their support.

[Brian and Helen]

[quote="Las-Cobas"]It would appear that in final return from the Interior Ministry, show that apart from the Grand Ville of Perpignan, Marine le Pen, came top of the poll in every other Villes of the Pyrénéennes Oriental. /quote]

That's pretty scary.

Brian

[Las-Cobas]

It would appear that in final return from the Interior Ministry, show that apart from the Grand Ville of Perpignan, Marine le Pen, came top of the poll in every other Villes of the Pyrénéennes Oriental. /quote]

That's pretty scary.

Brian

Why Brian ? On a 80% turnout, 20% more than the last UK vote, France has voted for change. It has voted for restrictions on Immigration, French Nationality withdrawn from persons who do not support the French system. And France for the French irrespective of colour.
Is that not what Brits want. ?

[Brian and Helen]

Well if Nick Griffith and the BNP got 18.1% of a vote in the UK there'd be hell to pay.

The media would be going mad demanding that "something be done about it". They'd be asking what had gone wrong in our society that could lead to such an appalling result - reams of self-examination and hand-wringing.

Brian

[peter]

The run off will be Sarkozy v Hollande.
So French centreish v slightly left of centrish.

First run results :

Hollande 28,6% 10 273 582

Sarkozy 27,2% 9 753 844

Le Pen 17,9% 6 421 773

Mélenchon 11,1% 3 985 298

Bayrou 9,1% 3 275 349

Joly 2,3% 828 451

Dupont-Aignan 1,8% 644 086

Poutou 1,1% 411 178

Arthaud 0,6% 202 562

Cheminade 0,2% 89 572

The talking point is the high position of Marina Le Pen (who took a majority in Gard) and where those voters will move next time round. The result is far from decided and the pundits are analysing the various scenarios.



Hover the mouse here - http://fr2012.election-maps.appspot.com ... mbed?hl=fr - to see individual department voting and double click for commune results.

Review by commune here : http://www.midilibre.fr/2012/04/20/les- ... 488172.php

Marine Le Pen took the majority of communes in Gard with over 35% of the vote in several communes.
Tiny Merial, Aude voted 50% for Le Pen. Not the place to move to ?

[Sandra]

The outskirts of Beziers seem to be very much for the NF

Magalas 29.6%
Pouzolles 26.9%
Abeilhan 32.9%

[Las-Cobas]

Well if Nick Griffith and the BNP got 18.1% of a vote in the UK there'd be hell to pay.

The media would be going mad demanding that "something be done about it". They'd be asking what had gone wrong in our society that could lead to such an appalling result - reams of self-examination and hand-wringing.

Brian

Brian,
The difference in mainland Europe and the UK we have PR, where as the UK first past the post system does not reflect the voting trends in the country, only in that Constituency on the day of vote. There have been many cases in the UK, where the the Government became the controlling party in the Commons because they attained the most seats .

In 2005 Tony Blair won only 35.2% of the vote, yet even though he lost 47 seats, he remained as Prime Minister with a majority of 355 seats.

At the same election Michael Howard won a 32.4% share of the vote but only won 198 seats, under 3% difference in votes, yet 157 seats lighter.

In mainland Europe it is an all encompassing democracy with PR, allowing all the political parties taking part in the democratic process. Here in France we have political parties ranging from the Trotskystes on left to the Front National on the right all with Senators, MP's Maire's, Conseil Générale, and Regional. All embrace the democratic process and are respected by their opponents, who work with them for the betterment of the French people.

Yet in the UK where the BNP is a legal political party, they are constantly harassed by pressure groups Like the ANL, various other Rag Bag organisations. They are demonized by the media and front bench members from all political parties who should be supporting their political aims.

If the French or any other Mainland European citizens wish to demonstrate, they do in their Hundreds, Thousands or Millions, and the government of the day take notice.

But in the UK and especially England the right to demonstrate is a dirty word and the special powers enacted under the terrorism act are used every way to suppress dissent. You will never attain the freedom of thought and association that is accepted as normal until you stop having your civil rights eroded.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

Benjamin Franklin January 17, 1706 -April 17, 1790

[Brian and Helen]

Yes, I take your point, LasC, on the essential differences between PR and FPTP. Nonetheless - I don't think that the far right parties in the UK (BNP, UKIP et al) taken all together would even register the minimum 5% of the vote to ensure recognition - even the Greens only have one MP - for Brighton.

We really don't do extremists in England, y'know (we have very long memories of Moseley and his blackshirts in the 1930s and various "Looney Left" parties from the 1970s and 80s) so they're usually consigned to the ridicule and obscurity they deserve.

Brian