France: Macron and Le Pen seek to vanquish left-wing voters | A week before the second round between the president and his far-right rival

from Paris

After causing the effect Result of the first round of presidential elections held a week ago The race to the second round (April 24) left little time to absorb the catastrophe: In short, Socialists (1.7%) and Conservatives (Republicans 4.7%) entered the ICU before their final retreat, while environmentalists, up to 5% of the total population, entered the ICU. Vote, left on the brink of financial and political extinction.

Round two takes place in a week with Same heroes as in 2017the current president Emmanuel Macron And the far-right candidate Marine Lupineand unexpected judgment for this duel, forVoters of the Radical Left of Jean-Luc Melenchon That put French candidate Insumisa in third place with 22% of the vote. Marine Le Pen and the outgoing president spent the first week winning the remaining vote without which, even if Marine Le Pen had more reservations than Macron, neither would be able to win the presidency. Says Antoine, a specialist worker from the Nantes region who was actively involved in the . movement yellow jackets That was launched in France against Macron between 2018 and 2019. Antoine, like much of the French left, has “total anger at the president. Rage and hatred. He was born with a silver spoon and sent us brutal, anti-republican police when we shut down the roundabouts to protest his politics. This is not a chief but a horrific repression.” This outrage rages on a large part of the Melanchonian and yellow vest left and explains why many electoral colleges prefer not to vote. “Cholera and tuberculosis cannot be options for a country,” says Antoine.

The far-right candidate is not the favorite today in the second round. However, no analyst would risk taking it out of the game entirely. Recent polls offer Macron a clear path to victory, with differences in favor of him running between 7-10 points (55.5% vs. 44.5%). Of the voters who chose Melenchon on April 10, 51% have yet to decide who to vote for, 33% will vote for Macron and 16 for Marine Le Pen. These numbers can be corrected by another survey conducted by Francia Insumisa among Mélenchon voters. Just over 200,000 people were consulted and 37.65% plan to vote for blank, 33.40% for Macron and 28.96% abstain.. On the night of the first round, Melenchon did not give nominal voting instructions, but advocated not to “give one vote to Le Pen”. On the Popular Action (Melenchon fighters) page where the poll results were published, the leader of rebellious France wrote: “The second round will be held in defiance of our most important disgust. From it will emerge a presidency without moral authority.” But for Melenchon, the two finalists “are not equal. Marine Le Pen adds him to the social abuse project she shares with Emmanuel Macron.” A dangerous ferment of ethnic and religious exclusion. (…) That is why I say and repeat that not one vote should be in favor of the far-right candidate.”

The feeling in France is that This election is a trap Well prepared and for a long time actually leaves voters with no choice in the future: “A vote for Macron is to choose social punishment. Voting for Le Pen is to choose the complete opposite of what France is, as well as social punishment,” sums up Véronique, a Parisian editor who feels trapped “not to vote” For a project, for the sake of the future, but against the most destructive offer. It is a choice without soul, without breath, without enthusiasm, without substance,” he continues. Too many voters suffer from a kind of democratic indifference, from “both civic and partisan inhibition,” according to the expression given by Véronique. This Saturday, April 16, there were demonstrations in France against the “extreme right and its ideas”. nothing else. The slogans and statements prior to the demonstrations signed by the organizations that launched them did not contain the words “Republican Front” and in the streets few posters named Marine Le Pen and not a single one was invited to vote for Macron. The Republican Front is dead, many men and women committed to political action admit. The blurry outlines of 2022 are far from reflecting the solidity of the Republican front that formed exactly 20 years ago when Marine Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, first reached the second round of the presidential election. . Since then, the far right has engaged in another Final Consultation, 2017, and is preparing to do so for the third time in a century on April 24.

Students Against Fascism

French students occupied several universities during the week under the slogan “Fascism is not an option.” This is not a position in favor of Macron, but as he explains the page Thomas, one of the students who occupied the Sorbonne, said, “It is disgusting that the only choice for young people is between a liberal and a fascist. This is a poor democracy. No generation accepts this nonsense.” Vérénice, a friend who accompanies Thomas and who also occupied the university, completes what the student says: “Neither Macron nor Le Pen represents us. We are in a lockdown that leads to false elections. They give us absolutely nothing to choose from. They force us to decide between neoliberalism and fascism. It is a disaster for our generation.” Political abbey, dead end, 5 years mortgaged no matter who wins are the impressions and state of mind that emerge from a community still fascinated and captivated by the Le Pen family. Unlike 2017, young President Macron is waving not with waves of enthusiasm but with the modest possibility that the most senseless fascism will not pass.