As the National Rally emerged victorious in France's early legislative elections on Sunday, reactions poured in from around the world. In Africa, concerns are mainly focused on immigrants living in France. However, analysts emphasise that if France opts for the far right, it may be time for Africa to make its own significant choices.
The far-right, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) has outlined its policy priorities, including restoring order in France, curbing immigration, and addressing the cost-of-living crisis.
Jordan Bardella consistently emphasises plans to tighten borders and make it more difficult for foreigners born on French soil to gain citizenship. He also reiterated his intention to ban dual nationals from holding high-level public jobs.
These measures have caused anxiety among the African population in France, primarily residing in big cities where the far right received much less support.
Pragmatism
"These are populist speeches to get elected," Marc Ona Essangui, a figure in Gabonese civil society, and third vice-president of the Gabonese Senate who presents himself as an observer of French political life, told RFI.
He says that he doesn't believe the National Rally will be able to implement their programme on immigration.
"The French have expressed their desire to see France change," he added. "It is the expression of the people and it is a sovereign expression. I think we must respect this expression. If the National Rally is in the lead today, this would simply mean that the French believe that the National Rally must lead France."
France belongs to the French, he insists, so to him Africans should not have to worry about the results.
"I don't think we are beholden to visions of France and of Africa. Instead, each country must define its policy," according to Essangui.
"Africans should also know that 60 years after the independences, if we are not capable of providing the means to create structures, multinationals to exploit our resources ourselves, and make them available to those who need them, we will always be in this situation."
Feeling of betrayal
Among French dual nationals, the tone is harsher towards France.
"I grew up in a society which considers the presence of North Africans as undesirable, experiencing racism from a young age like many others," writer and consultant Farah Abdessamad, a French Tunisian dual national, told RFI English.
"That binationals are now singled out by the far-right and their enablers is no mistake: it's part of a continuum that previously stigmatised Arabs and relegated their rights during the colonial era," she believes.
Guinean French artist Nu Barreto, who's been living in France for over 25 years, feels the same. "We have to fight against this dark ideology; we believe we should be equal," he told RFI English.
The RN, the party of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, topped the poll with 33.15 percent of the votes cast, ahead of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance on 28.14 percent, and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition on 20.76 percent.
RN and its allies obtained around 9.3 million votes – more than double that of the previous legislative elections in 2022.
