"Young people are always a bit scary because you're breaking codes," smiles Raphael Arnault, candidate for the New popular Front in Avignon, in response to the criticism. The 29-year-old from Lyon, who is on the police's "S" list of potential threats to national security, has been the subject of controversy, accused of being dropped into the first constituency of Vaucluse. "Today he's on all the TV channels, everyone knows him, and that was his only aim," says Philippe Pascal, a dissident left-wing candidate. In the region where the outgoing candidate is from the far-right National Rally (RN), the far-right party did well in the last European elections. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES