June 17, 2024

The political and financial elite have become unhinged over France.

Their language recalls the anti-Corbyn and anti-Sanders campaign in its over-the-top descriptions of the centre to the general left.

French Finance Chief Warns Left-Wing Win Would Mean EU Exit

“Their program is complete madness,” Le Maire said. “It will guarantee downgrade, mass unemployment and an exit from the European Union.”

Le Maire has joined President Emmanuel Macron in warning of the consequences of far-right or far-left parties coming to power.

The contradiction of trying to label the left antisemitic to push people to vote for the far right even with the Le Pen being an open and prominent fascist, xenophobe, should not be lost on people. In spite of the façade of her party, there are clear links between Rassemblement National politicians and Génération identitaire, a neo-Nazi party.

The playbook for capital seems overplayed here, however. The French can go one of two ways in this election, and their choice will be telling. Meloni has certainly reopened the door for fascist support by capital.

The National Rally is on course to win as many as 270 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, compared with 90 to 130 for Macron and his allies, according to a projection by pollster Elabe.

Adding to the disorder, France’s CGT union called for strikes across the country Saturday to warn against France falling into “fascism.” (BN)

Centrists are also rolling out old tropes about the far left, fixating on their style of dress in the Assembly and the idea that people see them as less "professional".

The public sees Mélenchon as a more polarising, less professional and less presidential than his far-right rival, according to an Ifop poll last year.

Such views are basically meaningless. It is like asking people who they think are more professional, workers or management. Most will say management, but they will also say they do not like managers.

The rest deals with the one person in the mix whom they see as the biggest threat. Even though this is not a presidential election, the media focus on Mélenchon as being "divisive".

A former Trotskyist who served as a junior education minister in a socialist government from 2000-2 before turning to the Eurosceptic hard left, Mélenchon has long had a reputation as a political bruiser with a volcanic temper.

Mélenchon’s lukewarm support for Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The final breakdown came last year over Mélenchon’s refusal to condemn the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and downplaying of antisemitic incidents, stances that reflected both his revolutionary zeal and strategy of rallying Muslim voters.

(FT)

Needless to say, challenges lie ahead for the left, and we are looking at developments in France as an indication of how politics might play out elsewhere.