Unsurprisingly, the expected explosion did occur on June 30 at the polls. After demolishing the classic parties in the name of “political overcoming”, Emmanuel Macron, by pressing the “dissolution” button, ended up erasing his own current. Macronism is dead, but the extremes are doing well, starting with the RN. What remains for the orphans of politics is this impossible choice of the second round, between the “preferable and the detestable”, according to Raymond Aron’s formula.
L’Express is not about to give voting instructions. Instead, here are some thoughts that arose during this short campaign before slipping one’s ballot into the box. Because beyond the emotions, the Pavlovian reflexes or the anger inspired by the presidential gestures and words, it is more necessary than ever to zoom in, by placing this French vote in a historical and international context.
Some considerations to take into account
1) Amin Maalouf, the writer; Robert Schuman, the politician; Marie Curie, the physicist; Charles Aznavour, the singer; Gao Xingjian, Nobel Prize for Literature; Françoise Giroud, the co-founder of L’Express… We could extend this list for pages and pages*. All born foreigners, all became French. What SHAME on the part of the RN to have sowed doubt about French identity, by reopening through its attacks against dual nationals the drawer of an abject past!
2) “That’s it, Jean Moulin is back!” quipped Jordan Bardella during the campaign to make fun of Olivier Faure. “We also have the right to laugh,” exclaimed Jean-Luc Mélenchon, about the slogan “A cop who dies = one less RN vote” seen in a demonstration. Words unworthy of the Republic.
3) At the moment when Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country suffers daily Russian attacks, outlines a plan for a just peace after 860 days of conflict, Ukraine has fallen into a black hole. Where have the convictions of Raphaël Glucksmann gone, yesterday still a fervent defender of this attacked country? What will everyone do tomorrow, when it is necessary to continue supporting kyiv in the face of Russian appetite?
4) Calm, a European compass and determination to overcome chaos. This is what the current international situation requires, undermined by two wars and democratic wear and tear in the West, while the hypothesis of a return of Donald Trump to the White House is gaining momentum. But the strategy of sound and fury announced by our French populists is very likely to come to nothing on the international scene and contribute to unraveling an already faltering French influence.
5) “It’s the economy, stupid!” This mantra, which dates back to Clinton’s America, seems to have no hold in France. Too bad, given that the programs of the New Popular Front or the RN are announcing a nightmare for the country’s finances.
6) What is the point of crying wolf, as President Macron did by brandishing the threat of a civil war? Has the time not come for a discreet presidency?
7) Which France do we want to welcome the whole world to Paris on July 26 for the Olympic Games? The 10 million RN voters in the first round have already responded. But what about the remaining 40 million?
Good vote!
* Dictionary of foreigners who made France, under the direction of Pascal Ory. Robert Laffont, Bouquins collection (2013).
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