Before the legislative elections on June 12 and 19, France 3 is going to meet the inhabitants of all the districts of Burgundy. Today, it is the turn of the second constituency of Côte-d’Or, which includes Dijon, Auxonne and Mirebeau-sur-Bèze.
Cap screwed on the skull, boots on the feet, Claude (name has been changed) works on the rows of strawberries that dot his garden. But for this resident of Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, a town in the east of the Côte-d’Or, there is no question of discussing the legislative elections. “I am not going to vote. It doesn’tI’m not interested at all!“
In the heart of the second district of Côte-d’Or, the most populated, this lack of interest in politics seems to be shared by a good number of inhabitants.. “Oh, you know, I don’t think I’m the right person to talk about this“, admits another resident, looking almost guilty, crossed in the street. “I don’t follow the news at all…“
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A little further, we hear the cries of the children of the Saint-Nicolas school who take advantage of the recess to let off steam. It is in front of the gates of the establishment that we meet Robert, an 80-year-old former teacher. He will not vote either, on June 12 and 19. “They’re all liars and crooks, who tell you one thing and think another, and who still do otherwise behind“, he gets carried away.
In 1958, when there was de Gaulle, I decided never to vote again. He rolled us in flour, he lied like hell, so now I’m dropping all that.
Robert, 80, retired teacher
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The other source of Robert’s anger is the decision-makers’ lack of exemplarity. “You listen to the news, supposedly they all raped someone, they’re all in court. But we can’t be led by people like that! They are all corrupt!“
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At the bend of the church, we meet Lydia, who somehow drags her shopping bag behind her. “I find it difficult to stand“, she confides, sitting down on a small stone bench. “That’s why I’m unemployed, I’m unable to work.“But despite her disability, she will go to the polls for the legislative elections.
I don’t know who I’m going to vote for, everything is still a bit mixed up in my head. But I’m going to go, because you have to participate. Afterwards we complain, but the complainers have to participate too.
Lydia, 53, unemployed
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If she remains undecided as to the choice of the candidate, the fifty-year-old still hopes for a social shift for this second five-year term of Emmanuel Macron. “I would already worry about homeless people. In Dijon, we see more and more people asking for a coin or a cigarette. And then the people who can no longer pay their rent, the precarious situations. It has always been close to my heart.“
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In the canton of Dijon-3, the opinions seem for the moment more settled. Ève-Marie, psychoanalyst, assures that she intends to move, because she has “the right to vote and that it is important“Her voice will no doubt go to the presidential party,”to fight against extremes, right and left, and to support our president, who has many shortcomings, but at the same time is a democratic republican.“
His concern? “Freedom“, she finally affirms, after a long reflection. “When I see what is happening in Ukraine and Russia… They are not very free there. We have freedom of expression, freedom of the right to vote, but with Marine Le Pen, I don’t think we will have many freedoms. Not with a Mélenchon either.“
As a reminder, La France insoumise does not present any candidate in the second constituency. The NUPES (New Popular Ecological and Social Union), which brings together several left-wing parties, preferred to invest Catherine Hervieu, from Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV).
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“For me, ecology is going too far“, sweeps Michèle, former employee at the town hall of Dijon. “As it is currently defended, it does not go. When we are told about the mayor of Lyon who wants to remove the Christmas trees, while there are plantations especially for that, it’s completely stupid.“
Environmentalists want too much. We know very well that we will not return to the Middle Ages. I am for ecology, but it has to be more sensible.
Michèle, former employee at the town hall of Dijon
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“I’m going to vote because it’s a civil right, lots of women fought for it“, adds the retiree. “But I will especially vote against those who promise us mountains and wonders. We have to be realistic.“
After Mirebeau-sur-Bèze and Dijon, direction Auxonne, in the very south of the district. Midday strikes when we come across Jérôme, funeral director, as he leaves to take his lunch break. “We have to hurry, I have to start again at 1 p.m.!“, he jokes.
If he says he is concerned by the ecological issue, his main concern remains the loss of household purchasing power. “There are families who can no longer go to the end, it becomes complicated. But everyone should go in the same direction, everyone should not be divided. It becomes a little nonsense.“
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However, in 2019, the median standard of living in the district was €22,220, compared to €21,930 in mainland France, reports INSEE. But the local population has not been spared by the general increase in prices, especially of gasoline: more than 68% of residents are forced to use a car to get to their place of work.
“And then there is the energy“, adds Michel, a retired postman. “Me, if I were a deputy, I would already block the gas. I would cap all of that. And above all, I would do a vital minimum for retirees.“
Macron, if he were my friend, I would say to him: Mr. President, stopping at 62 is already good.
Michel, retired postman
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► The legislative elections will take place on June 12 and 19. In the second constituency of Côte-d’Or, voters will be able to choose between eight candidates. The outgoing deputy, Rémi Delatte (LR), chose not to stand again.
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