Sophie Pantel: “Voters have the choice between a candidate who knows her files and a complete stranger”

Sophie Pantel du NFP est en tête mais de peu face au candidat d'extrême droite. Midi Libre – Michael Esdourrubailh

Sophie Pantel, candidate du Nouveau Front populaire sortie en tête dimanche 30 juin 2024, revient sur le premier tour des législatives en Lozère.

Sophie Pantel, the president of the Lozère departmental council and candidate of the New Popular Front, therefore finished at the top of this first round of the legislative elections, with 549 votes ahead of her direct competitor, Luc-Étienne Gousseau , of the National Rally : "I resisted well and I am the only one. When I look at my fellow candidates, they have fallen by the wayside."

For her, in rural areas, it is the feeling of abandonment that prevails. Out of 152 municipalities in Lozère, it comes first in 54 of them compared to 85 for Luc-Étienne Gousseau:"This reflects twenty years without a land use planning policy in this country. But we are not above ground in Lozère. Communities try to cushion national policies. I can give you medical demographics. We have systems in place. But this only corrects the errors, we have no control, they are patches. This is why going to the National Assembly means defending our territories which particularly need doctors."

A call for support

If the campaign continues for a few more days, we must move quickly: "We have finalized the circular, the ballot papers, the leaflets&nbsp ;for the markets. I come to the office from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. to deal with emergencies (at the departmental council, Editor's note)."&amp ;nbsp;Because on Sunday, we will have to stock up on votes to go to Paris: "Pierre Morel-À-L’Bailiff (outgoing MP, various right, came third with 24.04% of the vote) had his votes siphoned off by the far right. We are in an unprecedented situation. If he steps down, I would tend to say that it is not good for me. But no one owns the votes of the voters."

And the candidate calls on Republicans, whether they are centrists, right-wing, humanists, or independent, to mobilize: “They have the choice between a candidate who knows her files and who listens to her territory, to rurality. Or a complete unknown who has never given anything.” For her, the moment is at a tipping point. "Historical", she said.

The candidate of the National Rally, Luc-Étienne Gousseau, lawyer, did not respond to our requests, because of pleading. Pierre Morel-À-L’Huissier was unreachable on Monday. I subscribe to read the rest