Frédéric Michel (in Forcalquier), edited by Laura Laplaud
The majority hesitates, groping about the strategy to adopt against the Nupes for the second round of the legislative elections. In the second constituency of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the former Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, is seeking a third term. A re-election far from guaranteed with 30.16% of the vote, the candidate of the presidential majority is ahead of Léo Walter by a short head, who counts 29.30% of the vote.
“He returned like a wolf to the sheepfold”
Opinions are divided in Forcalquier, the city where Christophe Castaner was mayor. “He won’t get far Castaner, that’s all I can say!” launches a resident. “He arrived here in this niche of former neo-rurals, this country is mainly made up of that. Before, he was in the Socialist Party, he returned like a wolf to the sheepfold and then turned around and went to Macron to become minister. I’m like, ‘How dare he come back?’ It’s a betrayal,” said a resident.
Other voters believe that the former minister is an asset for the territory. This is the case of Sébastien, a flower seller in the markets. “I don’t think there is a more catastrophic score, he is still coming out first for the moment. The interest of his candidacy is that he is in contact with power, for financing, investments, he can bring a plus”, says Sébastien. “We need funding here, we are a small country.”
The candidate of the Nupes brings together the disappointed of the quinquennium
Very locally established, the Nupes candidate, Léo Walter was able to bring together the disappointed of Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term. “The management of the health crisis has angered people here a lot. We are not very inclined to give a large majority to Mr. Macron”, explains a local resident.
This duel at the foot of the Alps is the perfect illustration of the current battle between the presidential majority and the forces of the left united.