PUDUCHERRY: French nationals in the Union Territory, Tamil Nadu and Kerala cast their ballots on Sunday, during the first round of the 2022 France's presidential polls. In this round, two of the 12 presidential candidates who garner most votes will qualify for the run-off contest on April 24.
An electorate of 4,564 French citizens from Kerala, TN and Puducherry under the French consulate are eligible to decide which two candidates will go head-to-head. Six polling centres were set up by the consulate for polling from 8 am to 7 pm IST. Two centres were set up in the consulate at Puducherry and Lycee Francais School, one each were set up in Karaikal and Chennai, the consulate said.
French President Emmanuel Macron of La République En Marche who is seeking re-election is among the fray. If victory comes Macron's way, he will become the first French president to win a re-election since Jacques Chirac in 2002. The eleven other challengers, ranging from communists on the left to anti-immigration policies on the far right, seek to unseat the incumbent.
The elections are projected to produce a run-off re-match between Macron and the far-right leader Marine Le Pen of Rassemblement National, as in 2017 elections. However, Puducherry's French citizens have always voted for candidates who promise social security, benefits and a policy for overseas French citizens.
Accordingly, in 2017, their favourite candidate was Francois Fillon (Les Republicains) who polled the most votes in Puducherry in the first round, even as the run-off was between Macron and Le Pen, who polled most votes overall. This time, too, the nationals have similar views.
We are expecting better pension and other social security benefits as those in France, said Yagou Jean Pierre, an ex-servicemen who settled down in Ariyankuppam after service in the French Army. “We cannot just follow the European socio-political situation and vote. Our voting is as per our own requirement," he said.
Others cast their vote keeping in mind their children who are living in France. “We have to take into consideration the wellbeing of our children there, said Ady Kesavelu, a resident of Sooriyagandhi Nagar. Some nationals vote for a candidate to register their democratic right as citizens. “It is our democratic duty to cast our vote and hence, we have come to vote," said Bichat Balaramin, a former elected representative of citizens living abroad as an independent.
There were some who were unhappy with Macron's regime and expected better. “I am voting to stop the destruction of my country by President Macron, particularly business, banking, education and health. France is practically ruled by the so-called European Union whose members are not elected. It is not a democracy. Anyone who objects gets beaten by police. We want this to change," said a citizen who has been in Puducherry since 1990.
The President of the French Republic serves a five-year term. The 2022 election is the twelfth presidential election of the republic and the eleventh by direct universal suffrage. In this year's fray are: Nathalie Arthaud,Nicolas Dupont-Aignan,Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Jean Lassalle, Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Valérie Pécresse, Philippe Poutou, Fabien Roussel, Eric Zemmour.