It's time to take the french election seriously | thearticle
It's time to take the french election seriously | thearticle"
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
In less than a hundred days’ time, Europe will decide its political future. The first round of the French presidential election takes place on Sunday April 10th. These are the most important
elections to be held in the third decade of the 21st century this side of the Atlantic. Other countries matter too, of course. But more and more they are chained by the iron bonds of
coalition politics. Germany has a new Social Democratic Chancellor in Olaf Scholz after 16 years of Angela Merkel at the helm. But few in Germany expect any radical departure in policy. Mrs
Merkel, after all, freely told her close associates that she was pretty much a social democrat at heart. Scholz was her vice-chancellor. German Social Democrats, like German Christian
Democrats, are inextricably linked via the famous social market economic model to the promotion of thing-making capitalism, of trading material goods to the English preference for trading
money, today’s immaterial capitalism. Hence the unwillingness of Berlin, even with a Green foreign minister in the coalition, to take measures that challenge the supremacy of Germany’s open
trade ideology. This leaves Germany unwilling to challenge the would-be regional hegemons in Moscow or Ankara. Putin and Erdogan can shrug off the fury of the Anglo-Saxon commentariat, as
they know Germany will not risk the profitable politics of stability in energy supply, metal, chemical and pharmaceutical exports, or in the case of Turkey exports of submarines, which upset
the balance of power in the eastern Mediterranean. Britain has for the time being opted out of being a European player. Even though Brexit is delivering few if any of its proclaimed
benefits, no-one sees much chance of Britain re-engaging in European policy or politics under the current generation of British politicians. Italy may finally make its breakthrough as a
European policy-player, but the idea of Silvio Berlusconi returning as Italy’s President, on the assumption that the current Italian technocrat PM, Mario Draghi, stays as head of government,
will do little to enhance Italy’s European credibility. Elsewhere the iron rule of coalition means permanent lowest common denominator politics. France is the exception. The genius of
General de Gaulle’s Fifth Republic constitution marries a real executive president with a parliament whose deputies can stay his hand but not relapse into the deadlock of immobility so often
seen in that other great presidential democracy, the United States. Hence whoever emerges as President of France will, in the absence of any other major political leaders in Europe, wield
disproportionate influence and power on European and world affairs when he or she — there are two serious women candidates — takes office. Alas, the coverage of the election so far has
conformed to every cliché of how English language journalism — there is little difference between US and London reporting — writes about France. There has been excessive personalisation with
almost cartoonish depictions of the main candidates. Here the pro-Brexit press has presented Emmanuel Macron as the latest successor to Napoleon, trying to bully and dictate to England. The
left-liberal press has denounced Marine Le Pen and the journalist Éric Zemmour as throwbacks to 1930s ideology and politics — racist, nationalist, Islamophobic and populist, with an
exclusive not inclusive French identity patriotism. France has waited for 200 years for a moderate centrist politics to emerge. So there are hopes that Valérie Pécresse, the former Sarkozy
minister, who climbed over the bodies of grand fromage chiefs of Les Républicains, the main centre-right party in France, to win her party’s nomination can make it to the Elysée. Then there
is the sad plight of the French Left, once so important in influence even if France is basically a status quo bourgeois nation. The French Left today has put up eight candidates – half of
them hoping to get to the second round. Only one of them, the ageing Jean-Luc Mélenchon, ever scores more than 10 per cent in the regular opinion polls. As with his British admirer, Jeremy
Corbyn, Mélenchon’s role is to guarantee that the Left will remain in opposition. Anne Hidalgo, the official Socialist Party candidate, has scored just 2 per cent and 3 per cent respectively
in the most recent polls. In 2017 the French Socialists controlled the Elysée and all the main ministries. Never in European history has a governing party fallen so fast and so far. 2022
opens with President Macron still heading the polls, with either Valérie Pécresse or Marine Le Pen likely to be his main challenger. In the latter case, it would be a re-run of the 2017
presidential election. But Macron is still around six or seven points ahead of both female candidates of the Right. For Britain, a re-elected Macron as President of France and the dominant
leader in Europe raises interesting questions, especially given the language used about him by Boris Johnson, other ministers and many senior Conservatives. Macron has been showered with
abuse and insults by most of the Tory or Brexit supporting commentators in the London press and social media. One can assume he takes no notice, but how will British public opinion take to
the re-election of a French president they have been told is an enemy of England? So the French presidential election, which restarts this week after the Christmas-New Year break, really
matters for Britain, for the EU and for transatlantic democratic values, as well as for France. Is there a chance that editors in London can start to take this election seriously, instead of
using the next 100 days as a chance to indulge in every cliché of French bashing in which we Brits so often revel? A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to
covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and we need your help to continue publishing throughout the pandemic. So please, make
a donation._
Trending News
What to do this Sunday, June 8, 2025 in Paris and Île de France, ideas for outingsRendez-vous aux Jardins 2025: dates, programme and theme of this year's event in Paris & the Ile-de-France regionRendez-...
Ms n orban v rohan designs ltd: [2024] eat 187MS N ORBAN V ROHAN DESIGNS LTD: [2024] EAT 187 Employment Appeal Tribunal Judgment of Judge Susan Walker on 7 November 2...
Science for All | NatureAccess through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ...
Frustrated farmers block hs2 access to land - farmers weeklySimon and Mike Swerling © Maureen McLean/Shutterstock Fed-up farmers have blocked HS2 construction workers access to the...
Aapi hero award nominee linda huynhMemorial Day Sale! Join AARP for just $11 per year with a 5-year membership Join now and get a FREE gift. Expires 6/4 G...
Latests News
It's time to take the french election seriously | thearticleIn less than a hundred days’ time, Europe will decide its political future. The first round of the French presidential e...
Telecom reform bill includes federal pre-emption measure | rcr wireless newsWASHINGTON-Just as wireless was largely left on the edges of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it once again remains i...
A brief account of hostile takeovers in indiaNew Delhi, March 19 (IANS) With diversified conglomerate Larsen and Toubro (L&T) signing a deal with Cafe Coffee Day...
Roads to avoid in france this holiday weekendTRAFFIC IS SET TO PEAK ON SUNDAY AS PEOPLE RETURN FROM THEIR LONG WEEKEND Holidaymakers benefitting from today’s public ...
404 errorTemperature drop and storms: French weekly weather outlook June 2 - 6 All areas of France will see rain this week...