Resistance from the Suburbs

During the recent presidential election in France, the mainly Muslim immigrants of the suburbs were unusually active in mobilising against Nicolas Sarkozy. But in the recent parliamentary elections, their involvement was much reduced. Bernhard Schmid reports

France has voted. It was clear that Sarkozy's governing party, the UMP, would successfully defend its absolute majority in the National Assembly. The UMP's so-called "blue wave" already seemed unstoppable after Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in the presidential election in early May.

How do French immigrants, Muslims and non-Muslims, deal with this new political reality? At a first glance at least, many of them seem not to have much affection for Sarkozy.

According to statistics quoted on French television on the evening of the first round of the presidential election at the end of April, only around one percent of French Muslims voted for the conservative Sarkozy. Around 62 percent voted for his challenger, the Socialist Ségolène Royal.

The French "Beurs" against Sarkozy

But such figures need to be viewed with caution. They are based on voluntary information and self-definition, since surveys which ask about religious or ethnic origin are officially prohibited in France. And so far there are no details about the voting patterns of Muslim immigrants in the second round of the presidential election and in the parliamentary elections.

But there are signs of a tendency which make it clear that many immigrants families were highly sceptical about the election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the presidency.

The opinion research company IFOP published a survey in February according to which only 23.4 percent of the Muslim population in France identified with the ruling UMP. According to the survey, 55 percent preferred the largest opposition party, the Socialists.

Especially in the dormitory towns around the main cities, where, for social and economic reasons, many immigrant families live, many voters – especially the young – cast a clear "anti-Sarkozy vote" in the presidential elections.

In these "banlieues," the Muslims were unusually active in mobilising against Sarkozy during the presidential election, although that mobilisation dropped away considerably for the parliamentary vote.

Clichy-sous-Bois is a suburb ten kilometres east of Paris. In October 2005, it became notorious as the place where rioting in the suburbs started. The rioting, which began after an incident related to police violence, continued for weeks. In Clichy-sous-Bois one can observe the process clearly. Eighty-two percent of those on the voters' register went to the polls for the presidential election. In the first round of the parliamentary election it was just 46 percent.

The case of Rachida Dati

But Nicolas Sarkozy and his political circle also have support from some Muslim immigrant families. Some of them have even had successful political careers thanks to Sarkozy. Rachida Dati, the new 41-year-old justice minister, was also one of Sarkozy's two spokespersons during the presidential campaign.

As the daughter of a large family from Morocco and Algeria, she had to work her way up out of poor circumstances. She began her career in public life as a public prosecutor in the staff of the former justice minister, Albin Chalandon. Her appointment is the first ever of a woman of "Arab" origin to a key ministry.

Rachida Dati is often compared with Condoleezza Rice and her role in the administration of Nicolas Sarkozy with Rice's in that of President George W. Bush. There is no doubt that she will have to demonstrate toughness in her early days in office if she is to assert herself in a cabinet of conservatives which has made it one of its priorities to toughen policies on young people who fall foul of the law.

A not inconsiderable proportion of these young people come from immigrant families, since many such families are at the lowest end of the social pecking order, and live in dormitory town with difficult social structures.

In the past such social hotspots have seen concentrations not just of immigrants to France, but also of parts of the native French underclass.
The proposed toughening of the laws will thus affect above all young immigrants from North Africa and other parts of the continent.

Immigrants between stigmatisation and support

One of the first legal reforms with which Dati will be confronted in the coming weeks is one on the treatment of juvenile offenders. The law is scheduled to be passed during a special summer session of parliament in July. According to the reform, sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds who come repeatedly into conflict with the law will be dealt with as adults and no longer under juvenile law. An exception will only be made if the judge argues a case for it in a written decision.

Sarkozy seems to have understood that he has to use the potential and talents of the well-qualified children of immigrant families. Rachida Dati is a symbol of that awareness. Otherwise the former interior minister and current president seems not to be afraid of stigmatising the children of immigrant families by linking them with social problems.

Before the election, the footballer Lilian Thuram, well-known for his commitment to anti-racism, repeatedly accused Sarkozy of creating a favourable climate for racism in society. According to Thuram, Sarkozy told him in a private conversation that the blacks and the Arabs were themselves responsible for the problems in the suburbs.

Bernhard Schmid

Translated from the German by Michael Lawton

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