Security is concern in France ahead of local elections

Juliette Jabkhiro, Reuters

Security-focused campaign videos by the far-right National Rally candidate shaking up Marseille's mayoral race have helped die-hard supporter Marie-Helene Martin convince previously reticent relatives to vote for him, she said. To rousing music, Franck Allisio promises to triple the number of municipal cops, double the number of security cameras and put a police post in every district to "bring happiness back" ⁠to the people of Marseille. Allisio is tied in first-round polls ahead of Sunday's first round with incumbent Socialist Mayor Benoit Payan, providing the RN party with a once-unthinkable shot at power in France's second-largest city.

Famous for its historic port and striking Mediterranean views, Marseille has become the epicentre of authorities' battle with a nationwide surge in cocaine use, according to a 2024 senate report. Security is the top voter concern ahead of France's two-round municipal elections on March 15 and March 22, polls show, which could benefit the RN and its tough-on-crime rhetoric.

Allisio's strong showing in Marseille tracks national trends, with polls suggesting the RN, an anti-immigrant party once known for racism and antisemitism, could clinch the presidency ⁠in the 2027 election. "We need to win the municipal elections, and then our goal is the presidential," said RN supporter Martin, a schoolteacher.

A March Ifop poll found an Allisio victory hinges on how many rivals reach the second round. If the left rallies behind a single candidate, Payan is seen winning by a 10-point margin. But if the field is split between four contenders, the race tightens. French mayors have limited powers over local security issues, controlling municipal police forces that lack the powers and resources of national police.

Yet both Allisio and Payan have made crimefighting the centrepiece of their campaigns. "Obviously we are the narco-city," Allisio told Reuters. "We are witnessing an explosion in drug trafficking, and in the face of this, for years ... nothing has been done."

Payan dismissed allegations of inaction, pointing to a bolstered local police force. "The far right is playing on fears," he told Reuters. "Ultimately, it's not addressing the issue of security, since what it proposes is practically nothing or completely unrealistic."

Official data showed a 4.1% decrease in overall crime in Marseille last year compared to 2024 and police data show drug-related killings have fallen ⁠after a peak in 2023, but murders related to drug dealing have shocked residents. Claire Duport, a sociologist with the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addictive Trends, said that although drug-related violence was not rising in Marseille compared with previous decades, killings had shifted from score-settlings to more indiscriminate attacks.

"The feeling of insecurity is legitimate — it's just not representative of wider trends," she said. In a bid to bolster his security bona fides, Payan has drafted into his campaign Amine Kessaci, a well-known 22-year-old anti-drugs activist who has lost two brothers in drug-related murders. During an interview at the left-wing coalition headquarters, Kessaci told Reuters the RN's plans would fail to combat the social root causes of drug-related violence that the Socialists planned to address. "We're going to respond to drug trafficking with healthcare, with education, with transport, with housing," he said.

In La Busserine, one of the northern neighbourhoods most affected by drug violence, some residents also chafed at the RN's rhetoric. Fadella Ouidef, who volunteers in the neighbourhood social centre, said she was frustrated ⁠to see security dominate the campaign. "The far right is always the one setting the terms of the debate ... All they know how to say is security, security, security," said the mother of four, who feared the underlying message was that Arab and Black people were "the bad ones". A 15-minute walk away, four youngsters were selling drugs to the occasional client outside a tall, decrepit housing block dubbed "Le Mail". Ouidef said ⁠she avoids Le Mail, but that she feels good in the diverse district of La Busserine, where she has lived for the past 17 years. "If the National Rally comes to power ... it will be disastrous," Ouidef said, referring to feared RN cuts to social services and saying drug use was a pressing public health issue. "They think that by creating more social hardship, they'll create more security, but they'll soon realize it will create more ⁠hardship and more delinquency," she said. "People like them aren't interested in people like us."