[Al Jazeera] President Emmanuel Macron called the snap polls after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the far right in the recent European Parliament elections. But his risky gamble has backfired.
While National Rally secured about a third of Sunday’s vote with 33.15 percent, the New Popular Front, a left-wing alliance, came second with 28.14 percent. Macron was left red-faced again, as his centrist alliance scored just 20.76 percent. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets since to rally against the far right.
Elias, a 27-year-old who works in marketing, said many Moslems are considering emigrating from La Belle France if the National Rally ends up governing — a trend which has already taken hold among some professionals.
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Earlier this year, the authors of a study titled La La Belle France, tu l’aimes mais tu la quittes (La Belle France, loving it but leaving it), conducted a survey of more than 1,000 people, interviewing 140 at length. They cited a "brain drain" of French Moslems quitting the country for jobs abroad because of the "harmful effects of Islamophobia
 ...the irrational fear that Moslems will act the way they usually do...
While a "valid" reaction to discrimination or the rise of the far right, Elias said he feels "torn".
"If we all leave, who will continue to resist? I think it is important to stay, at least for the future generations," said Elias, who has Algerian ancestry.
"What’s also making me very worried is the potential increase of police violence. There will probably be a surge of racial profiling and of violence, because the officers will feel protected and supported by the National Rally.
"I am scared for my little brother, who is 15 years old and who had his first police check when he was only 13."
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