This year is one of those rare years when the French and American presidential elections coincide (French presidential terms last 5 years)... and today is the first day for the French Presidential elections! Yes, strangely, elections are on a Sunday even though everything else in France seems to stop working on that day.
Polls will close in a few hours, and we will find out if there will be a second round of Presidential elections... that is, if no one gets the majority of votes, the top two candidates will run off on May 6th. The two expected front runners are François Hollande (Parti Socialiste) and Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP), the incumbent. To help figure out what candidate you would choose if you were a Frenchie, take this quiz from ouestfrance.fr (it's in English!)
The elections are more interesting than usual since immigration issues, very relatable to my situation, are often highlighted in the campaigns. Stricter immigration laws (usually from the right, UMP or Front National parties) are usually meant for restriction of gypsies/Eastern Europeans, North Africans, and Muslims... for example, they recently outlawed completely covering your face in public (no full face hijabs or green-man outfits allowed). But as a consequence, they make it much harder for me to get my visa for France as well. Perhaps its just French administration that is making it hard for me....
It was very interesting for me to speak to French people about the election since most of them seemed to be Hollande-supporters, or, more accurately, Sarkozy-opposers. Although this is probably a consequence of the group of people I associate with, which tend to lean more left. It also seems like the "cool" thing to be in France is anti-Sarkozy. Even the one person I know is definitely voting for Sarkozy didn't tell me until at least 30 minutes of questioning. And the full 30 minutes was spent Sarkozy-bashing. So I am not sure how many other closet-Sarkozy fans are out there.
Polls will close in a few hours, and we will find out if there will be a second round of Presidential elections... that is, if no one gets the majority of votes, the top two candidates will run off on May 6th. The two expected front runners are François Hollande (Parti Socialiste) and Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP), the incumbent. To help figure out what candidate you would choose if you were a Frenchie, take this quiz from ouestfrance.fr (it's in English!)
The elections are more interesting than usual since immigration issues, very relatable to my situation, are often highlighted in the campaigns. Stricter immigration laws (usually from the right, UMP or Front National parties) are usually meant for restriction of gypsies/Eastern Europeans, North Africans, and Muslims... for example, they recently outlawed completely covering your face in public (no full face hijabs or green-man outfits allowed). But as a consequence, they make it much harder for me to get my visa for France as well. Perhaps its just French administration that is making it hard for me....
It was very interesting for me to speak to French people about the election since most of them seemed to be Hollande-supporters, or, more accurately, Sarkozy-opposers. Although this is probably a consequence of the group of people I associate with, which tend to lean more left. It also seems like the "cool" thing to be in France is anti-Sarkozy. Even the one person I know is definitely voting for Sarkozy didn't tell me until at least 30 minutes of questioning. And the full 30 minutes was spent Sarkozy-bashing. So I am not sure how many other closet-Sarkozy fans are out there.
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