Éloi Garnier
Éloi Garnier | |
---|---|
Leader of Bloc Mayotte | |
In office 1 October 2008 – 14 November 2018 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Blythe, Mayotte | 8 August 1963
Political party | Bloc Mayotte |
Children | 4 |
Éloi Garnier (born 8 August 1963) is a Mayottean politician and lawyer who was the Leader of Bloc Mayotte from 2008 to 2018, and was the party's nominee for president in the 2016 election. In 2020, Garnier was the a leading attorney arguing on behalf of the Bettencourt movement in the Supreme Court case Bettencourt v. Government of Zamastan, and as such was instrumental in Mayotte's independence.
Garnier is most widely known for his opposition to immigration, especially Muslim immigration from south Adula. He believes immigration policy to be the single most important political issue facing Mayottean society. He has been described by some media commentators and scholars as far-right, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic, and is a leading figure in a party faction that seeks to declare Mayotte a "patriotic nationalist beacon". Previously, his pro-Drambenburg views were criticized by other Mayottean conservatives, but since the 2022 invasion of Blaoria he has campaigned against "renewed imperialism".