On June 6, heads of state from across the Western world commemorated the heroic victory of democracy against dictatorship and hatred. On June 9, the European elections bring us back to a cruel reality. Eighty years later, the far right – expansionist in Europe – in France gathered 38% of the votes against immigration, the far left gathered 9% against Israel. At the RN, Jordan Bardella succeeded in his challenge: to present his party as unifying and reassuring, far ahead of its competitors. On the far left, one more step has been taken. The shift towards rancid communitarianism and abject anti-Semitism is now clearly accepted and it is still its eternal guru, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who speaks about it best in his blog: “the abusive paralyzing ray of the accusation of anti-Semitism is now without effect. Clear scores for a smooth campaign because, let’s face the truth, the government parties have accumulated errors.
By wishing to fully commit to this campaign, Emmanuel Macron is the first accountant of this victory of the extremes. By refusing to acknowledge the rejection he arouses in public opinion, he has rushed headlong into the trap set by populists of all stripes: making this vote above all a referendum against him.
The right of government is not exempt from reproaches. The experience and intellectual honesty of François-Xavier Bellamy will not have been enough to carry a political family caught between the presidential majority and the far right. At a time when the French are rejecting Macronism, the government right has proposed a new “at the same time” throughout the campaign and has engaged in a curious balancing act. She praises her seriousness in European institutions while blushing at her commitments within a right-wing coalition which was able to respond to Covid and the war in Ukraine. She claims to be from the EPP, the majority in Parliament, but denies the President of the Commission from this group. The Republicans thus sacrificed what precisely distinguished them from Macron’s policies: their coherence and their backbone.
Emmanuel Macron played poker for the future of France
In this context, the President of the Republic took the worst decision less than an hour after the official announcement of the results by announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly. Like a sulking child, he seemed to once again show his historical ignorance. Sin of pride or vanity, did he really think of donning the clothes of General de Gaulle? A few days before the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games, it only has a government responsible for handling current affairs while we must face a maximum level of security risk in all areas.
Added to this is a totally deleterious political context. The government parties eaten away by the internal quarrels of people realize hour after hour that they will sink into “whatever can” in the face of an extreme right perfectly organized for the conquest of power and an extreme left dedicated to the destabilization of the Republic . Without forgetting, of course, the risk of panic among economic players, who understood that the National Rally’s program was not only incoherent and unrealistic, but also… socialist with a mess of tax increases as a result.
The French have just initiated a severe trial for ineffectiveness against the government parties, incapable of restoring order at the borders, in the streets, in schools and in the accounts. It was therefore a radical change in policy and majority that had to be announced rather than this dissolution with extremely serious consequences. Emmanuel Macron played poker for the future of France. It’s immature, inconsistent and perhaps unforgivable. It is imperative that our countless “managers” take their responsibilities precisely. Otherwise, they too will have to assume the consequences of the chaos that is coming.
Jean-François Copé, former minister, mayor (LR) of Meaux
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