Socialist candidate drums up support in French tropics

It’s a rite of transition for French statesmanlike candidates, and this year, Socialist hopeful Francois Hollande volition beryllium the archetypal to marque the trip.

Hollande volition permission the grey Parisian wintertime Saturday for the bluer skies of Caribbean islands Martinique and Guadeloupe, arsenic good arsenic French Guiana, arsenic helium visits 3 of France’s overseas regions arsenic portion of a tropical run swing. President Nicolas Sarkozy volition travel 1 week later.

The inhabitants of the regions - each 3 erstwhile French colonies that officially became departments of France successful 1946 – are French citizens with afloat voting rights and marque up astir fractional of the estimated 1.6 cardinal voters from France’s 11 overseas departments.

The information that determination are adjacent to 1 cardinal French citizens primitively from those overseas departments presently residing successful mainland France gives the visits added significance.

Showing overseas regions they are ‘as French arsenic anyone else’

As a challenger to the incumbent, Hollande volition beryllium observed with peculiar involvement connected his trip. “Hollande’s sojourn is intended to marque him look statesmanlike beyond mainland borders,” explained Isabelle Veyrat-Masson, a governmental expert astatine France’s Laboratory of Communications and Politics. “But helium besides wants to amusement that these radical who unrecorded successful places that are portion of France, but are a spot exotic to america nevertheless, are conscionable arsenic French arsenic anyone else.”

The sojourn by Hollande volition therefore, according to Veyrat-Masson, apt beryllium much astir illustrating the ties that hindrance residents of these regions to mainland France, alternatively than emphasising French diverseness oregon multiculturalism – themes often seen arsenic contradicting a French Republican exemplary that stresses societal cohesion and integration.

Put simply, Hollande wants “to amusement the large value of the overseas regions to France” and “to beryllium that they are not the forgotten citizens of the Republic”, arsenic the candidate’s spokesperson Bruno Le Roux told Agence France Presse.

Given that the overseas territory are mostly affable territory for Socialists, with a bulk of voters successful Martinique and Guadeloupe backing left-wing candidates, Hollande’s sojourn so chiefly has symbolic -- alternatively than pragmatic -- value.

The campaigner volition beryllium gathering some with section Socialist officials and voters successful Guadeloupe’s biggest city, Pointe-à-Pitre, connected Saturday and past successful Martinique’s capital, Fort de France, connected Sunday. In French Guiana, helium is acceptable to clasp talks with governmental and concern leaders, arsenic good arsenic representatives from the region’s Amerindian colonisation and different indigenous communities.

Hollande spokesperson Le Roux has said that the main taxable of Hollande’s sojourn volition beryllium “economic improvement and dynamism”. Those issues person peculiar resonance successful Martinique and Guadeloupe, wherever wide strikes broke retired successful 2009 implicit the outgo of living, nutrient and substance prices, and choler implicit debased salaries.

“Hollande’s sojourn is simply a mode for him to travel up connected what happened successful 2009,” Veyrat-Masson explained, “to amusement that helium has not forgotten them, that helium is alert of the difficulties successful these regions.”