Everyone has their own idea about the “spirit of the Fifth Republic”. The latest avatar to date: the media pronunciamiento triggered by the New Popular Front (NFP) at 8:01 p.m. on July 7 to claim its natural right to govern (or even to choose the Prime Minister) even though it only obtained 174 seats out of 577 (and 25.3% of the votes cast in the second round). The move is well played, since many people believe in this theory, but that only says a lot about the talent of its sellers. Especially since the commodity to be peddled is one of the dubious ones.
What is clear in the general economy of the Fifth Republic is that the Prime Minister is the leader of the parliamentary majority. This is his political function and the reason – the primary one – why he has always been taken more or less into its ranks. The choice of his person invariably rests on this harmony, especially in periods of cohabitation. However, as we know, no one – near or far – has a majority today. There is therefore no justification for feeling obliged to grant his most eminent attribute – the government of France – to those who occupy less than a third of the seats in the National Assembly. In short, in the current configuration, the only available truth is that no one has a “natural” title to claim anything.
The funny thing about this frenetic invocation of the spirit of our institutions is that at the moment it only serves its exact opposite. If we have to look for a guiding philosophy in the Fifth Republic, we will find it in General de Gaulle’s desire to free the country from the tyranny of partisan interests. Everything, in 1958, was intended to break with it and make possible the search for a kind of republican transcendence, a national common good that is superior to it. The soul of our Constitution is made of this wood.
Ambient Circus
In a country divided into three, this logic of renunciation in the general interest should lead to seeking the lowest common denominator on which everyone could agree despite their considerable differences. The equally natural objective should be to arrive, in the best case, at a coalition built around a compromise project, in the worst case, at a sort of managerial consensus. But this assumes that political actors – even citizens – are willing to do so, that is to say, ready to sacrifice part of themselves in the service of their country. But we have, in recent times, seen almost everyone rushing in the opposite direction.
It has been a long time since it was this terrible. Whether it is men or political parties, everyone devotes themselves to their own little affairs, seeks their own well-understood benefit, cultivates their ambitions, daydreams, indulges in their calculations, gives right to their perversity, their hatreds, their anger… It is true that there is no shortage of motives. It is no less fascinating, all the more so if we do not lose sight of the fact that the situation in France is at least as serious from the geopolitical, security, economic and financial angles as it is from the institutional angle, and that there are much better things to do than devote oneself entirely to the joys of the ambient circus.
The original Fifth Republic stands on two legs. One is pessimistic – History is tragic, and we must prepare to face it as best we can –, the other is pragmatic – men and political forces being what they are, it would be suicidal to let the destiny of the country drift at the whim of their disembowelment alone, especially parliamentary. In the minds of its founders, it has always been a question of containing the political beast, of helping us to limit the effects of our common unreason, of not abandoning ourselves without resources to the demagogy of electoral programs or to the hazard of ill-considered adventures.
The best thing that could happen to us would be to know how to (re)find this true spirit and to want to conquer the centimeter of greatness that it encourages us to take in order to tear us away – all of us – from the worst of ourselves. This will only come with the awareness of the danger. Do we finally have it?
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