(Quebec) Wanting to “block the road to the extreme right” in France, Mercier’s solidarity MP, Ruba Ghazal, decided to campaign for the New Popular Front and encourage the French of Quebec to vote for the coalition of parties of LEFT.
“I can’t just sit idly by and see that in another country, it’s the far right that’s going to take power,” she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
On the social network Doesn’t this activity go against her job as an elected official?
“My priority, as a member of Parliament in Quebec, is to do my job here. I do this 99.9% of the time, but faced with this historic situation where the extreme right could be elected in France, I tell myself that there is an opportunity to block the way for this extreme right. indicates the solidarity MP, adding that it is “dangerous for democracy, the rights of minorities and certain very important values of the Western world”.
The New Popular Front is a coalition of several French left-wing parties. We find there in particular the Socialist Party, La France insoumise and Les Écologists. It is Osama Laraichi who is the candidate for this front in North America.
Ruba Ghazal assures that she has not become a spokesperson for these different political groups.
“It’s not about associating or agreeing with every position these parties take. That’s not it at all. […] Surely there are elements with which I will not agree,” she said.
On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron took everyone by surprise by announcing the calling of early legislative elections, after disappointing results for his party in the European elections against the far-right National Front. by Marine Le Pen. The latter is also in the lead in voting intentions, according to French polls.
“The rise of the extreme right all over the world has an impact and we can feel it everywhere, even here,” says Ruba Ghazal.
She cites as an example a demonstration against the right to abortion which was held in Quebec at the beginning of June.
But one of the major themes of the French far right is the reduction of immigration. The solidarity MP refuses to draw a parallel with this political posture and the way in which the debate is currently raging in Quebec.
“I don’t characterize the way the immigration debate is being done as a far-right debate. There are very important disagreements on immigration, on how we should manage it, on the reception we give. These debates take place in a healthy and peaceful manner,” assures the supportive MP, adding that there are no far-right parties in the National Assembly of Quebec.
The first round of the French legislative elections will take place on June 30 and the second round on July 7. The French National Assembly has 577 elected officials.
