First day of campaign and first controversy. Just nominated candidate of the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (NUPES) in the 18th district of Paris for the legislative elections, Aymeric Caron is accused of wanting to ban part of the population from voting. The first salvo seems to have been fired by the journalist from the Figaro, Paul Sugy. On May 3, the day of the announcement of the candidacy of the essayist, he posted a video on his Twitter account, accompanied by the comment: “in five years, idiots will no longer vote… since Aymeric Caron does not want to leave the right to vote than to those who have their “permit to vote”. »
In the video extract, taken from the program “C à Vous” on France 5, Elisabeth Lemoine questions the former columnist of Laurent Ruquier on his desire to introduce a voting permit: “The uneducated and irresponsible citizen does not will have more voice in the chapter. It’s a strange democracy that all the same… Who decides who is cultured and responsible enough to have the right to vote? “Society,” replies tac for tac Aymeric Caron, establishing a comparison with the diplomas obtained by doctors or lawyers allowing them to practice.
The tweet and the video have been taken up dozens of times, in particular by right-wing and far-right political figures and… the person himself who accuses the journalist to have taken 20 seconds from their context.
FAKE OFF
The video, always available onlineactually dates from November 21, 2017. Aymeric Caron is invited to present his book Utopia XXIin which he describes “a perfect society”, a work inspired by the utopian society imagined by the English humanist Thomas More in his work Utopiawritten and published in 1516.
In a second tweet, also published on May 3, the journalist from Figaro takes up a quotation from the book which effectively evokes this license to vote – “the uneducated and irresponsible citizen will no longer have a say in the matter. No one will be able to participate in the life of the community any longer without having provided proof that he is worthy of it” – without however specifying that the work is halfway between a novel and a political essay. Nor specify that Aymeric Caron, in his book, conditions this right to vote on a government which guarantees “for all access to the widest possible knowledge, as well as the circulation of independent information. »
An idea put on standby…
If this work is a fiction, Aymeric Caron however draws the parallel with real life. In the rest of the video, he puts his idea of a permit in opposition to the obligation to vote. In his eyes, this measure would be more “an attack on freedom” since it obliges those who do not want to be interested in political life to speak out. The essayist also argues that the 15-hour working week, another point proposed in his book, would allow citizens to have “time to get involved in political life”.
Aymeric Caron has however put his idea on hold by joining the ranks of NUPES which advocates… compulsory voting. Contacted by our colleagues from Check news, he explains: “It is no longer relevant for me to defend this measure today. I carry the program of the People’s Union and I am committed to its measures. I have personal positions, but I have set them aside, as is the case with many people in a political movement. »