Analysis
French left aligns to cultivate a fragile hope against the right and its ‘progressive’ allies
While disappointment at the president's cynical and ill-thought move gave way to anger, what also emerged is a sentiment that seemed long forgotten: hope.
These days have been marked by disappointment and anger, but also hope. On Monday morning, Parisians woke up under an overcast sky, covering up the sun that had been out in the last hours of the campaign. The special edition of Le Monde dryly announced that “the extreme right is one step away from power.” Illustrating the headline was an image of France almost completely covered in brown, the color that represents the National Rally led by Marine Le Pen in the progressive newspaper's infographic.
Disappointment and anger have been the most widespread reactions among left-wing voters, and also among moderates who still believe that the NR – a party that has picked up the legacy of the xenophobic and racist right, and has its roots in the Vichy regime – is foreign to the values of the secular and anti-fascist French Republic. Although weakened by years of erosion – first because of Sarkozy and then, more and more, due to Marine Le Pen herself, who since the founding of the NR has seen her support grow and overtake the other right-wing parties – the idea of a kind of “constitutional arc” of the Republic, which could be relied upon to keep the party away from the Elysée, had held until a few days ago.
Perhaps Macron also believed it – out of self-interested calculation, because he doesn’t seem to have many convictions of his own – and this led him to bet on the link between the political forces that identify with the values of the Republic when he decided to dissolve Parliament. Instead, it became clear early on in the campaign that the levee on the right had fallen apart, that a substantial number of French people no longer see a vote for Le Pen as violating some kind of “constitutional morality,” and that this time Macron would not be in a position to benefit from the solidarity of a left that has borne the brunt of attacks by both the right and the center.
However, while disappointment at the president's cynical and ill-thought move gave way to anger at his irresponsibility as he played with the future of the French people – particularly those who have everything to lose if the NR were to come to power – what also emerged is a sentiment that seemed long forgotten: hope.
Against the expectations of the “realists,” the various forces of the quarrelsome French left managed to set up an electoral agreement, and to fight an extraordinary battle that led them to around 28 percent in the first round, compared with about 33 percent for the right. Unfortunately, it’s still impossible for them to overtake Le Pen. However, the parties of the alliance can manage to ensure she doesn’t achieve an absolute majority through agreements not to run against each other.
This is the main focus during the few days left before the second round. Some prominent names from Macron’s part of the spectrum have already broken ranks, showing that when there is a choice between social equity and the protection of the haves, their choice is clear: they would rather protect the interests of the latter, even if this exposes France to the risk of an authoritarian drift and discriminatory measures against minorities.
This exposes an ambiguity that has marked the last two decades, and which is among the primary causes of the profound crisis that a number of democracies are going through: the hypocrisy of those who describe themselves as “progressive,” but at the end of the day are on the side of the strong. Its consequence is that in their view, citizens don’t have constitutional rights, but contingent privileges that can be called into question, without any regard for social justice, whenever there is a need to reduce debt, or increase competitiveness, while those who have the means to contribute to a more equitable share of the sacrifices that need to be made are protected because they “produce wealth.” As if the workers themselves contributed nothing at all.
Such “progressivism,” which casts itself as liberal but has an unequal and therefore arbitrary conception of freedom, could suffer a tremendous blow if Le Pen succeeds in forming a government. In a few days, the time will come for post-mortems and proposals for the future. Even if they are defeated, the French left will have a few million reasons to cultivate hope and turn it into real opposition.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/francia-la-rabbia-e-la-speranza-da-coltivare on 2024-07-03