The results of the French presidential elections have been revealed. François Hollande, sadly, barely edged out Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.62% of the votes.
In the first round of the vote, Lebanese-French gave Nicolas Sarkozy an edge over Hollande with more than 55% of the vote. You can check out the numbers for the first round here.
For the second round, the difference is even more drastic. But there’s something telling about the results.
Nicolas Sarkozy won in every single voting station in Lebanon, apart from two in West Beirut, one in Tripoli and one in Saida.
Don’t call me sectarian for this but the stereotypes about who’s voting for who are apparently true. And it is an interesting observation, nonetheless. Lebanese Christians, based on the predominantly Christian areas of East Beirut and Jounieh, overwhelmingly voted for Sarkozy, while Lebanese Muslims (Saida, Tripoli & West Beirut) favored Hollande.
The discrepancy is, I suppose, based on both candidate’s differing views to immigration. I would assume Lebanese-French Muslims believe a France under Hollande would make things easier for their families here. I guess people can dream.
Either way, an overwhelming majority from Lebanese-French to Sarkozy. And Lebanon sides with the Right. Again.
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
I don’t think it’s a coincidence to make this observation. It’s quite evident really.
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Still gotta point out that it’s being made for non-sectarian reasons. You never know who ends up reading 😛
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could you add the top row so we can read the results better?
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i should add, could you add (or translate) the top row into english so we can read it better?
thanks
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You only need to look at the % in the last two columns. The rest are the number of registered voters, the number of actual voters, turnout %, the number of counted ballots, the number of votes that each candidate took and finally the % of each.
The total for Sarkozy is 68%, a little less than what he got in 2007 in Lebanon. But still a landslide for him and his party.
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Done.
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As a citizen of a European Union member state I am absolute not happy about this outcome. Sarkozy’s typical French attitude towards (the) Europe(an Union) was tolerable, but Hollande’s remarks about EU austerity are quite shocking to say the least. I don’t think his plan to lower the retirement age to sixty is really excellent, quite the contrary. Our societies are so intertwined if Socialist policies in France cause trouble to the eurozone stability we will certainly feel it. I’m also slightly worried about the ability of Merkel and Hollande to cooperate, but I’ll give it the benefit of my doubts.
In general, the rage against the EU is popular and I think a lot of it has to do with misinformation or lack of informartion. Also here 25% believe leaving the EU and the Eurozone over night would be a fancy idea for an international trade dependent nation like ours.
As for immigration, I don’t believe in humanitarian aspect of immigration. We should look at potential immigrants in terms of financial/innovative/knowlegde benefit to our society. Of course, national or ethnic background should not determine how we judge someone, their actions should. That said, neither should the cultural sensitivities of non-native minority groups deterime (the application of) our rule of law. When a local government sets up a sex-separated voting ballot in a mosque then they shouldn’t be surprised they are feeding Arabo/Islamophobia. Yesterday it was ten years ago we had a political murders since World War Two: a politician was murdered by a Leftist for having “xenophobic views”. No less than 65% of Moroccan-Dutch aged 12 to 23 have been in trouble with the police. Non-western immigrants are six times as relient on social welfare than natives. Figures are similar in Germany. Obviously these are mere statistics which are often abused by xenophobes, but we musn’t deny there’s a cultural dimension to major problems a muliticultural Europe is facing.
Islamophobia is a problem for social cohesion in Europe, but so is the attitude of certain immigrants who believe they are entitiled to everything and believe their values are applicable on our society.
Ideally, our society will judge individuals purely on their achievements and abilities, but we’ll have to shoot all xenophobes and the “I’m entitled to special treatment” minorities to the moon.
Sorry for the right-wing rant and the off-topic, back to France:
Bienvenu a LOL LAND!
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Before my comment is considered even more of an generalization than it already is, I must add this: There are immigrant groups which are largely succesful. Chinese have higher education degrees and better jobs than average natives. Iranians who are here for political rather than economic reasons are often exemplary citizens. And there are probably many more notable groups and individuals.
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Eh I know. Lebanese immigrant groups are among the most successful in France. They love us there. Again, you follow the rules – you blend in, you infuse their culture and they won’t see you as a threat to them. You contribute to the economy, you help instead of abuse the system and why would they want to kick you out?
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The EU will definitely be very affected by a Hollande-France. The currency plummeting today is indicative of what’s to come. Hollande saying no to austerity regulations and wanting more government spending will only lead to more debt. France will go down and down. Germany’s economy is strong. But is it strong enough to hold a weakened Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece and France? Absolutely not. So yeah, the EU will suffer.
His plans to reduce retirement age are absurd as well. So people are complaining about lack of jobs and lack of money, you make them work less? The European Union is called as such because the countries are intertwined. Hollande cannot act as if France is not part of deals and regulations. And I hope he wont. I’m not sure where the anti-EU sentiment comes from. But I think free-trade and basically free borders between the countries is such a huge plus that it dwarfs any other negative aspect possible.
I agree when it comes to immigration that it shouldn’t be based on the factors you mentioned. But it needs to be selective based on the need of your country. You bring in the best people possible from outside because you know they will benefit your society. You know I agree with you about the cultural dimension of the data you mentioned. I wouldn’t use them every single time in an argument but there comes a time when something because far more than a statistical occurrence. When something is repeated across borders, it shows a drastic problem in the fabrics of society. I was having a discussion with a friend the other day regarding the burka ban in France. She was against it, I’m with it. Why? Because I find that if something is so unlike your society and you think it’s detrimental to making your society more coherent, as opposed to looser, then that thing should be stopped.
My attitude towards immigration (because I might as well become one of the soon) is: you go legally, you work hard and you contribute to your society the same way a non-immigrant does. You are not there to abuse their systems, you are their to benefit from what they have to offer. And France has excellent healthcare, transportation, among other systems.
Right-wing rants are always welcome, Daniel. Especially yours. My Facebook status regarding France yesterday was the following: “Hollande gagne. La France perd. Bienvenue à Athènes – err, désolé… Paris.”
At a time when Europe is kicking off socialism, here’s France embracing it. Sad.
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Thanks for your elaborate response. I can only nod and embrace what you said.
The EU is sometimes viewed as a mere bureaucratic and expensive institution which takes away national independence and replaces it with suzerainity. “Joe Average” might feel uncomfortable with the way the European Union functions as its systems are really hard to grasp without properly informing yourself, which many humans don’t seem to like. Often people feel there’s already a big distance between them and the local politicians, not to mention those in Brussels and Strassbourg! Sometimes you’d think the world needs a little bit of technocracy to cure populist rhetoric and (never said that).
There’s a feeling among some that euro and the open borders have made “the people” (one of the most abused and misused terms in history) more vulnerable to the international market. You have no idea how many simplistic arguments I have heard about Eastern Europeans “stealing jobs” and so forth. I do believe the corruption and criminality is a problem in some new EU countries, but the way some speak about job competition by Eastern European is mere xenophobia and ignorance.
People are provided with simple statistics on how much money they pay to the European Union. The financial benefits of the European Union – of which there are plenty – are more difficult to present as simple numbers. Our trade with Germany is enormous, we have one of the biggest ports in the world, we absolutely need a free-market. Furthermore we need to be competitive and innovative. By acting like we can isolate ourselves from the international market and keep every low-technology factory running we’ll be bankrupt financially and technologically in no time. And this applies to any EU member state, in my opinion.
Back to Hollande, I hate to bring the bad news, but it seems the enemy down south doesn’t like Hollande either. Almost 93% of Israeli-French voted for Sarkozy. Meanwhile both Israel and Palestine’s leaders congratulated Hollande: the game of sucking up to a regional player has begun! (I would copy a link to an article but I’m not sure if Israeli news URLS are illegal for you)
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Average Joe is used by politicians leading up to elections to gain votes by campaigning that they are for the “normal” people. When they get elected “average joe” is forgotten. While that shouldn’t be the case, mr. joe also tends to forget. And the cycle repeats itself. The point is: average joe shouldn’t rule. End of story, there’s no way of making this seem nicer :p
I agree about Eastern Europe. Their markets are vastly increasing, their economic status is improving compared to other countries and they’ve been through much oppression due to the USSR. Give them some slack. Stereotypes exist everywhere. It’s the same here against people from the Gulf, Egypt, Syria, etc….
And precisely: the pros outweigh the cons. Imagine if borders had been shut or made tighter and trade had to go through a lot of bureaucratic hoops. Odds are Germany wouldn’t want to do much business with you. Spot on observation, in my opinion.
Yeah, I noticed how Israeli-French people voted. And I thought Lebanon gave Sarkozy an edge. Granted, Sarkozy has some Jewish blood (I think his mom was Jewish) so that might have helped. But I think xenophobic Israeli-French are wary of Hollande’s more open view to Islam. It doesn’t matter either way. I highly doubt France’s relation to Israel will change much. Speaking of that, I especially like that France is among the Western countries that’s critical towards Israel and not all “we ❤ it" mentality (à la USA).
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