In Mayotte, Marine Le Pen exploits the limits of the executive to better promote herself

POLITICS – The next move. Marine Le Pen continues her visit to disaster victims and officials in Mayotte, three weeks after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido. Present on site since Sunday, the figurehead of the National Rally is going to the Mamoudzou hospital center this Monday, January 6 and aims to tour the island to meet elected officials and residents.

A support visit for “ listen » the Mahorais, according to the elements of language in vogue among the frontists. But which inevitably takes on a very political aspect. The first opposition representative to go there since December 14 and the worst natural disaster that the archipelago has experienced, the far-right leader is capitalizing on a situation that is rather favorable to her.

On conquered ground in Mayotte, where her party has achieved election scores well above the national average since 2017, Marine Le Pen does not miss an opportunity to criticize the government, while taking care of her own stature. In this, it takes advantage of the structural fragility of the executive and its specific difficulties concerning the 101st French department.

Marine Le Pen pushes her advantage

This is nothing new. Since the passage of Cyclone Chido, the elected representatives of the National Rally have not spared the President of the Republic and the government. For example, they added their voices to the concert of criticism on the delay in lighting by François Bayrou, the hectic visit of Emmanuel Macron or the reaction of Élisabeth Borne, new Minister of National Education, to two teachers on place.

In a few words, “the crisis management was faulty”, summarizes the RN deputy for Mayotte Anchya Bamana, in the columns of Parisian this Monday, estimating that “ State services underestimated the extent of the damage. » On the other hand, the leader of the National Rally was more magnanimous on the reconstruction plan announced by the Prime Minister since Mamoudzou, measures going “ undeniably in the right direction. » It’s already over.

Since her arrival on the archipelago, the three-time presidential candidate has deplored that the government’s strategy “ doesn’t go far enough. » Above all, Marine Le Pen takes advantage of the contradictions of the executive on one of her emblematic subjects, immigration, to push her advantage. “ Without solving the problem of illegal immigration, nothing will be useful “, she said again on Sunday, with particular reference to land rights, at a time when the government is publicly struggling with this issue.

Return to this system, already largely regulated on Mahoran soil, as demanded by the National Rally? “This is obviously the right path”notably assured the Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin this Monday, in the wake of a column signed the day before by Sébastien Lecornu, Manuel Valls and Bruno Retailleau, but in direct opposition to his colleague Élisabeth Borne. For her, on the contrary, it is not “not the right way” car “there are other measures” possible.

Take care of your stature

A debate, symbol of the contradictions which run through the fragile base supposed to support the government, which François Bayrou will be called upon to decide ahead of a new law dedicated to Mayotte. In the meantime, this cacophony prevents the executive from responding to the National Rally with a clear proposal. In doing so, he gives him free rein to put his project at the center of discussions.

The leader of the far-right party was not asking for that much. In addition to the difficulties of the executive, and its advantageous position – ” we are not the decision-makers, but we are the ones who can ring the bell “, she explained on site, Marine Le Pen can count on a solid popularity rating in Mayotte. In 2022, the Mahorais placed him at the head of the second round of the presidential election with 59% of the votes. Two years later, they voted for Jordan Bardella’s list in the European elections, giving him 51% of the votes.

In this context, the images filmed on site and cleverly published on the social networks of the National Rally and its elected officials contrast sharply with those of Emmanuel Macron or the government in recent weeks. “ Warm welcome from the population of the devastated village of Handrema », underlines on X Louis Aliot, the vice-president of the RN who accompanies Marine Le Pen. Supporting video.

A way, it seems, of showing the local popularity of the “ natural candidate » of the far-right party for the next presidential election, when the head of state was pushed aside a few days earlier. A sort of confession too, undoubtedly unconscious, on the real object of this movement. Or, in any case, on one of its most concrete aspects.