Ahmed Eddarraz, is a candidate in the legislative elections for the 9th constituency of French people living outside France, which covers the Maghreb and part of West Africa, to wear the colors of the presidential majority in this battle instead of the outgoing deputy M’Jid El Guerrab, weakened by his judicial calendar. Interview.
Challenge: You are a candidate in the legislative elections of the 9th constituency in order to represent some 159,500 French people registered on the consular registers, spread over sixteen countries of the Maghreb and West Africa. What exactly motivated you to present yourself here?
Ahmed Eddarraz: My personal story predisposes me to take on responsibilities with the French people of the 9th district. I met many of our fellow citizens in Morocco, of course, where I live, but also in Tunisia, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Mali. To respond to a problem diligently, it must be mastered and worked on upstream. That’s what I did. My candidacy for these territories seems natural to me.
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Challenge: What makes you the “natural candidate” in this battle?
Ahmed Eddarraz: I was born in Millau in Aveyron. France has made me the man I am with its values, its faith in freedom and tolerance. But I am also irrigated by my dual Moroccan culture. I am a network man close to decision-makers in France but also in the countries of the 9th district. I therefore have the connections to intervene as quickly as possible in the interest of my fellow citizens living abroad, to unblock situations, to move matters forward. Otherwise, I have been working for several years to respond to the concerns of French people living abroad.
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Challenge: You have made education one of the main themes of your campaign. What do you want to concretely bring to French people abroad?
Ahmed Eddarraz: I offer free school for all French people living abroad. This will be my first fight for real equality. There cannot be first-category French children, those from Metropolitan France, who have free access to education and second-category French children, those whose parents are expatriates abroad, who are forced to pay their schooling. My fight also consists of removing a burden from French people living abroad and facilitating their procedures for obtaining official documents. It is unacceptable that French people living abroad do not have the same access to their papers as French people living in mainland France.
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I am also campaigning for the creation of a post of mediator for French nationals living abroad within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I also promise to speak with Air France to cap the price of plane tickets for French expatriates and allow them to visit their families in France as much as possible.
