(1) FRANCE: AFTER THE ELECTIONS – YouTube
A Workers’ International Network Meeting July 2022
The French parliamentary elections represent a further blow to the authority of Macron, re-elected president two months ago by a reduced margin against the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. In the first round of voting, the left alliance NUPES came close to beating Macron’s Ensemble, and in the second round scored 31.6% against Ensemble’s 38.6%, with the far-right party on 17.3%, on a record low poll of less than 50%. These elections leave France even more politically divided. They highlight the polarisation of society, the weakness of the ruling party, widespread disaffection with the political system, a growing threat from the far right, and the challenge faced by a newly-revived left.
Can Macron still carry through his proposed attack on pensions and workers’ rights? With inflation soaring, can we expect a decisive mobilisation of the trade unions? Given the failure of the parties of the left alliance to form a single parliamentary bloc, can Mélenchon sustain the revival of the left?
France could well become once again the scene of major class struggles and an inspiration to the workers of Europe.
Discussion introduced by Olivier Delbeke and other comrades of the editorial board of Arguments Pour la Lutte Sociale (aplutsoc.org)