Zemmour Enters France's 2027 Race, Vowing to Expel Jobless Foreigners

Eric Zemmour, the French far-right author and longtime television commentator, said he will run in next year's presidential election. Al Jazeera reported that he confirmed the decision in an interview with the French broadcaster TF1, saying he was running to “keep a France that is French.”

It will be his second bid for the presidency. Zemmour, who is 68, finished fourth in the 2022 election. Al Jazeera described him as a Jewish author known for an anti-Islam and anti-immigrant stance.

What Zemmour is promising

Zemmour laid out an immigration platform built on expulsions and sharp cuts. According to Al Jazeera, he wants to expel foreign offenders who are in prison. He also wants to remove foreign nationals who have been out of work for more than six months, even if they are legal residents of France.

He also says he wants two million fewer immigrants in the country. Al Jazeera noted that many on the far right see immigrants as key instigators of the violence that followed last month's student-led protests over the cost of living. That is a view held by parts of the far right, as the outlet put it, and not an established finding.

The crowded field on the right and the left

Zemmour will be competing for votes with Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party. The election is set for April 2027, and Al Jazeera reported that Le Pen is widely projected to win it. The outlet said last month's violence has pushed the frontrunner's popularity higher.

The winner will replace Emmanuel Macron, who is ending his term as president of France.

On the far left, Jean-Luc Melenchon of the France Unbowed party presented his program on Saturday to about 17,000 supporters. Al Jazeera said he has been accused of encouraging the unrest, a charge the report presents as an accusation made against him.

What it means for the race

Zemmour's entry gives French voters another far-right option alongside Le Pen, and it puts immigration and the aftermath of last month's protests at the center of the campaign. His proposals go further than expelling people convicted of crimes: they would also apply to legal residents who have been unemployed for more than six months.

For people living in France without French citizenship, that means the debate is now about more than border control. Zemmour's stated plans would affect legal residents as well, though they remain campaign promises and not law. Le Pen, the projected frontrunner, is already the dominant figure in the contest, and her rivals on the right and the left are now announcing their platforms with the vote set for April 2027.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera

Cover photo: ManoSolo13241324 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

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