Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer: Law enforcement agencies in New York have informed me of bomb threats targeting several of my offices.
IOF storm Al-Ahli Hospital, vicinity of Al-Mizan Hospital, and Mohammed Ali Al-Muhtaseb Hospital in al-Khalil.
Iraqi sources told Al Mayadeen that reports that Barrack conveyed warnings to Iraq about an Israeli strike if any Iraqi party supports Hezbollah are false.
Pope Leo XIV: Peacemakers do not flee, but dare to stay even if it costs them some sacrifice.
The Pope to the Lebanese: You are a diverse country and a community made up of communities united by one language, the language of hope, which has allowed you to start anew.
Pope Leo XIV to the Lebanese: You are a people who do not give up, but a people who persevere in the face of difficulties and know how to be reborn.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in South Lebanon: Israeli occupation targets bulldozer working to remove rubble of destroyed home in Shebaa.
IRGC sources tell Al Mayadeen that reports of Iranian missile strikes on northern Iraq are false, calling them rumors spread by enemy-linked media.
Trump: Venezuela airspace should be considered 'closed in its entirety'
AFP: Ukraine behind attack on Russian 'shadow fleet' tankers in Black Sea

Macron appeals to 'stigmatized' suburbs in election push

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: Agencies
  • 21 Apr 2022 23:59
4 Min Read

Macron is trying to win over the poorest and most ethnically diverse region of mainland France by simply spending his afternoon greeting people in a bid to sway the electorate more in his favor.

  • x
  • French President Emmanuel Macron in Seine-Saint-Denis, France, on April 21, 2022 (AFP)
    French President Emmanuel Macron in Seine-Saint-Denis, France, on April 21, 2022 (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed Thursday to "stigmatized" young people in the country's multi-racial suburbs in the days leading to the election that will determine his political future in France and end his election campaign, which he described as "unbearable" for many due to his flagrant anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Macron faces far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a run-off vote on Sunday. The duel set to take place between the top two candidates is likely to be far tighter than the run-off between the two five years ago in 2017 when Macron took the lead and became President with 66% of the vote, though recent polls show him to be ahead of his opponent.

The incumbent president, in a bid to win over voters living in low-income suburbs that voted heavily for an eliminated left-wing candidate, spent his afternoon greeting people in Seine-Saint-Denis, as their votes are pivotal for him to win in the election, though a simple "Salut!" might not be enough to convince them to cast their ballots in his favor.

Voters in the district northeast of Paris had frantically voted for him in 2017, though they appear to be less enthusiastic about the centrist candidate.

"My first message is to say to the residents of all our working-class areas that they are a chance for the republic," Macron told reporters.  

"Over the last few months we've stigmatized people from working-class areas, lowering our debate, opposing and sometimes dividing our society," he added. 

The electorate Macron is trying to have vote for him had been marginalized by his former opponent, far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who called Seine-Saint-Denis, mainland France's poorest and most ethnically diverse region, a "foreign enclave", marginalizing its people.

The French journalist that was more radical than the far-right Le Pen had also called Islam "incompatible with the republic", promising to bring in a law obliging parents to give their children French-sounding first names, which would have been devastating for foreign cultures within France.

Zemmour scored quite badly in the first round of the election on April 10, coming in fourth place with around 7% of the votes.

Seine-Saint-Denis was very much in favor of leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was also eliminated in the first round of the elections, finishing in third place with more than 20% of the vote. He had won 37 out of 40 districts in the region, with an average of 49% of the vote.

Melenchon coming in third place and being out of the race could mean tens of millions of votes will go for Macron because regardless of his views, the French left will still perceive him as more moderate than his far-right opponent.

The president has so far garnered support from several opponents, mainly left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came in third place and called on his supporters and the French public to pivot away from the extremist.

"We know who we will never vote for... Not a single vote must go to Mrs. Le Pen," Melenchon said at his party headquarters in Paris, though he did not explicitly ask for his supporters to back the incumbent president.

Another boost for the President also came from his other opponents. Communist Party candidate Fabien Roussel, Socialist Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot of the Greens, and right-wing Republican candidate Valerie Pecresse said they would vote for him to prevent the far-right leader from coming to power.

Only fellow far-right candidate Eric Zemmour voiced support for his counterpart that will be making it to the runoff election, when he urged his supporters to vote for Marine Le Pen on April 24.

  • Jean-Luc Mélenchon
  • Paris
  • Valerie Pecresse
  • Eric Zemmour
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Marine Le Pen
  • France

Most Read

13 elite Israeli troops were wounded in a confrontations in Beit Jinn, Syria.

13 elite Israeli troops wounded in confrontations in southern Syria

  • West Asia
  • 28 Nov 2025
Russia and China are not part of the Resistance Front, but they are playing an important role in building structures to bypass US power and thus facilitate a multipolar and freer world. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

The Resistance Front and BRICS

  • Opinion
  • 29 Nov 2025
Four killed, ten wounded in targeted California shooting in Stockton

Four killed, 10 wounded in 'targeted' California shooting

  • US & Canada
  • 30 Nov 2025
Point-blank killings: 'Israel' executes 2 Palestinian youths in Jenin

Graphic footage: IOF execute 2 Palestinians from point blank in Jenin

  • Politics
  • 27 Nov 2025

Coverage

All
In Five

Read Next

All
US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Wednesday, September 24, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iraqi sources deny US warning of Israeli attack on Lebanon: Exclusive

People walk through a street in the old city of Homs, Syria, Friday, November 21, 2025 (AP)
Politics

US cautions Israeli occupation against escalation in Syria

Members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) arrive at the site where Hamas militants are searching for the remains of captives in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, December 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Gaza death toll surpasses 70,000 as victims remain under rubble

Pope Leo XIV meets the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch John X Yazigi, left, and spiritual leader of Lebanon's Druze community Sheikh Sami Abi al-Mona in the Martyrs' Square, in Beirut, Monday, December 1, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Pope Leo XIV calls for unity, coexistence during Lebanon visit

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS