Several prominent left-wing politicians in France have signed a letter calling for the right of non-EU migrants to vote in the upcoming European elections.
Around 50 politicians, primarily from the Greens and the Socialist Party, penned the declaration for the right to vote of foreign residents in both local and European elections, including left-wing mayors of several major French cities such as Paris’ Anne Hidalgo and Lyon’s Grégory Doucet.
“As cities, we believe that migration does not reflect a state of emergency, but is a natural and recurring phenomenon in human history,” the declaration read.
“Cities, in particular, are destinations for immigration and, as the first and immediate democratic entity, they are challenged to guarantee the civic participation of the people they welcome,” it added.
The signatories argued that newcomers who do not hold EU citizenship should be allowed to vote so as not to exclude “equal participation in democratic life” because of a person’s passport.
“The right to vote for the entire population of the same city strengthens the social cohesion and identity of a city and our democracy,” they wrote, claiming that allowing non-EU foreign nationals to vote is the “democratic response to nationalism and discrimination.”
Conservatives, however, accused the left-wing politicians of using unscrupulous tactics to derail right-wing parties currently surging in the polls and expected to win big in next month’s European elections.
“When we no longer have voters, we have to create some!” quipped National Rally MEP Gilbert Collard.
Sébastien Michel, the center-right Republican mayor of Écully, accused left-wing parties of no longer having a moral compass. “While LFI is chasing the Islamist community vote, the rest of the left is trying to attract votes from foreigners,” he wrote on X.
The demise of left-wing parties across France has been evident in consistent polling leading up to the European elections in June.
Both the Socialists and the Greens are expected to be the biggest losers compared to their percentage shares in the 2019 vote, both dropping from 14 percent to 6 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is predicted to dominate the election, currently polling at 31 percent, up eight percentage points on the 23 percent it received five years ago. Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête, whose European election campaign is spearheaded by Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, is on course to secure 7 percent, the same share it achieved in the previous vote.