Franch Abroad Election : Bohême wins, Vazquez emerges,abstention casts a shadow

French citizens in Cambodia have renewed their Conseil des Français de l’étranger. The “Français au Cambodge” list wins by a wide margin, while a new civic movement reshapes the political landscape. Yet a worryingly low turnout clouds the result.

Florian Bohême and Matthias Vazquez

The 24th constituency of French nationals abroad, covering Cambodia, released its first results on the night of May 31st. Of 3,631 registered voters, only 704 cast a ballot — 399 in person and 305 online — yielding a turnout of approximately 19%, a figure that, if confirmed, would point to a troubling disengagement from an institution meant to embody representative democracy for French expatriates.

COMBINED RESULTS (IN-PERSON + ONLINE) — 689 VALID VOTES CAST

List / Candidate	Voix	%
Français au Cambodge — Florian Bohème	334	48.5 %
Le Relais Citoyen — Matthias Vazquez	157	22.8 %
Ensemble — Bruno Bogvad	100	14.5 %
Cendy Lacroix	61	8.8 %
ASFE — Jean Lestienne	37	5.4 %

Registered: 3,631  ·  Voters: 704 (in-person: 399 + online: 305)  ·  Blank/void: 15 (in-person: 7 + online: 8)  ·  Valid votes: 689  ·  Online results official (MEAE); in-person results unofficial.

Florian Bohème and his list “Français au Cambodge – Plus Forts Ensemble” captured nearly one vote in two. The victory is clear and unambiguous. With 334 combined votes — 200 in person and 134 online — the incumbent confirms his standing within Phnom Penh’s French community. His stronger showing at the ballot box in particular signals a well-organised campaign and solid grassroots presence.

“Florian Bohème’s list won the support of nearly one voter in two among those who showed up or logged in. It is an undeniable political victory — but one built on a foundation of mass abstention.”

The real surprise of this election has a name: Matthias Vazquez. His “Relais Citoyen des Français du Cambodge”, a brand-new movement built around listening and community representation, secured 157 votes — 22.8% of valid ballots. That score positions him as the unavoidable challenger for future elections, and raises the question of whether this still-young momentum can translate into lasting political capital beyond the initial wave of civic enthusiasm.

Further back, Bruno Bogvad’s “Ensemble, le meilleur est possible” list claimed 100 votes — a respectable result that confirms the existence of a centrist electorate sympathetic to the Macronist project, but one struggling to differentiate itself in an increasingly fragmented local landscape. Cendy Lacroix (61 votes) and the ASFE list led by Jean Lestienne (37 votes) bring up the rear, underscoring the difficulty smaller or peripheral candidacies face in mobilising voters when overall turnout is this low.

· · ·What looms over the entire picture is a stark arithmetic: fewer than one registered voter in five cast a ballot. In a community numbering several thousand French nationals, only a fraction engaged with an election that nonetheless shapes French representation in the Senate and in consular institutions. The central challenge of the coming mandate may prove less political than civic: reconnecting a scattered, often indifferent community with the rituals of French representative democracy, ten thousand kilometres from Paris.