As some 500,000 Left-wingers marched in France’s cities yesterday, shouting anti-Fascist slogans, never had Lenin’s phrase seemed more apposite: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.”
Upended by Emmanuel Macron’s decision last week to call a snap election after the hard-Right National Rally won over a third of the vote in the European elections, French politics is now in a state of chaos. Macron deliberately chose the shortest constitutionally-compatible timeline, with a first round to be held on June 30, and the runoff on July 7.
Defiance, hostility and suspicion reign between adversaries, but also among so-called allies, forced by circumstances into unnatural coalitions. Parties that have just finished competing for voters in a proportional representation system now face a first-past-the-post contest, and have spent last week frantically cobbling together alliances.
Now, in an election where local factors matter in each constituency, the Palestinian slogans and keffiyehs have miraculously vanished: the NPF is battling “fascism at our door”. The official party platform published on Friday is even more extreme than ever, calling for the suspension of EU treaties with Israel and taxes on everything.
There will be “kilometric taxes” on imported goods proportional to distance travelled, a reinstatement of the wealth tax, an inheritance cap, a lower pension age, higher minimum wage and more benefits paid to all, but most of all to the migrants who must be “properly welcomed”. It is an ideal document for the National Rally to campaign against.
Mid-yesterday afternoon, at the time of writing, large cheerful crowds converged on Place de la Nation, flying Palestinian flags and convinced that they were at the threshold of power. Calls to avoid violence have so far been heeded – but with tensions building, only a single spark is required for France to ignite.
No comments:
Post a Comment