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Ten days ago, sovereigntist and former MEP Philippe de Villiers launched a petition calling on the President of the Republic to hold a referendum on immigration. The petition has just passed the one million signature mark. Villiers wants to force Macron’s hand through “popular pressure.” While the success of his initiative proves the French people’s thirst for public action on the issue, it will likely come to nothing.
The former right-wing minister and founder of the successful Puy du Fou theme park did not expect such rapid and massive success. Launched during the first weekend of September thanks to an article in the Journal du Dimanche, the petition, which spread rapidly on social media, collected hundreds of thousands of signatures every day and reached the symbolic threshold of one million signatures on Monday, September 15th.
“It’s a surprise, but also a message. A surprise because things have moved very quickly: a million in ten days is unexpected! And also a message: the signatories see that we are no longer in control. We need to put pressure on the entire class that refuses to listen. You don’t want to see what we see, you don’t want to hear the cry of the people who don’t want to die,” explained Philippe de Villiers on Europe 1.
In the text accompanying the petition, Villiers takes up the argument of the ongoing change in the population. He considers that “immigration is no longer just one problem among many: it is the central issue, the one that drives all the others. We are in the process of changing our population.”
Prominent figures on the Right have claimed to have signed the petition, such as Laurent Wauquiez, leader of Les Républicains MPs and Bruno Retailleau’s unsuccessful rival for the leadership of his party. “I signed the petition for a referendum on immigration. How about you?” he proudly posted on his X account.
It is rare to achieve such rapid results in such a short time. A few weeks ago, another petition sparked widespread debate, calling for the repeal of the Duplomb law, which signatories viewed as harmful to the environment. It ultimately gathered two million signatures—but only after two months of campaigning. Villiers’ detractors are sceptical of the figures reported by the site hosting his petition, and the mainstream press accuses him of “links with the far right.” The petition against the Duplomb law was hosted on the National Assembly’s website and required secure identification via the France Connect public authentication system in order to participate. Villiers’ petition, on the other hand, is hosted on a website managed by a private individual and does not have a system for verifying multiple votes, which increases the risk of fraud. Villiers dismisses these objections. His website was the victim of a cyberattack, which he sees as proof that his fight is justand a cause for concern in high places.
Villiers’ initiative is not the first of its kind. Before him, almost everyone on the Right has tried it. Organising a referendum on immigration is one of the Rassemblement National’s recurring demands. A year ago, Éric Zemmour’s party, Reconquête, launched a petition for a popular initiative referendum, but the effort ultimately failed to gain traction. Les Républicains also tried their luck before having their request rejected by the Constitutional Council in April 2024. The argument remains the same: the subjects that can be put to a referendum are strictly defined by the Constitution, and no exceptions can be tolerated. It will take more than a million signatures to get the institutions to budge, as they are carefully locked down to guarantee the status quo on the highly sensitive subject of immigration.
