Retour à l'accueil | précédente
|
|
|
|
|
Retour à l'accueil | précédente
|
||||||
|
April 23, 2002 IN THE medieval town of Jonzac in the Charente Maritime region north of Bordeaux, the poster of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the market place has been defaced with a black marker pen. Beneath the 15th-century château there are tears in some residents’ eyes as they express their shame at M Le Pen’s success. Jean-Lou Dinand, a graphic designer, said: “I cried when I heard the news. It is a catastrophe. I feel so ashamed to be French. Le Pen is a xenophobe and a Fascist. It is just as bad as when Hitler rose to power in Germany.” Nelly Gillet, a student of English Literature, said: “I have been crying all night. I am shocked and terrified at what has happened and I feel so ashamed of my country. I know that some people wanted a change, but I can’t believe that they would vote for Le Pen as a way of doing it.” Françoise Landreau, who teaches at Jonzac high school, said: “People are saying that it is the worst day of their lives. We thought at first there had been a mistake.” The southwest region is normally split evenly between Left and Right, and is generally more moderate than the east of France. In Jonzac, M Le Pen won 13 per cent of the 5,377 votes cast, compared with 21 per cent for Jacques Chirac and 16 per cent for Lionel Jospin. The results were similar for the whole Charente Maritime region. “I just hope that it was only a vote of protest against the existing Government,” M Dinand said. “When you ask people in the streets, nobody will admit to voting for Le Pen. If I really thought that 17 per cent of French people had voted for Le Pen because they believed in his policies then I think I would have to leave France.” Like many small French towns, Jonzac enjoys a traditional way of life. There is very little crime, few outsiders and the most pressing issue for the local police has been reprimanding people who put their bags of rubbish out in the street before 6pm. Some hope that the Le Pen vote was a way for people to express their dissatisfaction with the Government. Many businesses in Jonzac are strongly against the 35-hour working week and high taxes. Christelle Héraud, who runs Le Pacha Tabac in the town centre, said: “What has happened is unimaginable. Everyone thought it would be Chirac and Jospin in first and second place so many people didn’t even bother to vote. Then a lot of people decided to vote for one of the other smaller candidates, even though they knew they wouldn’t win, because they wanted to give the Government a kick up the backside and let them know how they feel.” Caroline Dupas, a
teacher, said: “Many of my friends were planning to vote for Jospin in
the second round and |
|
