For the second time since 2017, France’s political parties and power balance have altered dramatically. The Socialist Party, which once had the support of well over 20% of French voters, has seen its popularity plummet in recent years. In 2017, the Socialist Party’s candidate won 6% of the vote; however, in 2022, the party garnered less than 2% of the vote. The French Communist Party had more than 20% of the vote at the dawn of the 1980s (even more than the Socialist Party), but it was so weak that it did not even run in the 2017 election. Since 2017, the political stability of traditional parties has deteriorated, with both traditional right parties in decline.
The most pressing issue now is why the extreme right has reached the second round of the presidential election in France, the cradle of human rights and citizenship.
A solid understanding of French political dynamics is required to provide accurate and, of course, short-term answers. I shall attempt to provide the basis for such an understanding.
Fifty years ago, French voters were divided into two camps: the right and the left. The right and left currents were also divided into two parties: the left parties (Socialist Party and Communist Party) and the right parties (Democratic Party and Republican Party). Each of these two currents received around one-third of the vote, with the other one-third going to the fluid electoral forces, which inclined to the left and right at different periods. However, since 2017, there has been a drastic change in the formation of political parties and the distribution of power.
In less than two weeks, the French people will vote for the highest political figure in the French government. The following two factors have caused consternation and created a wave of questions regarding the current electoral situation in France:
First, the traditional right (Macron) is pitted against the extreme right (Le Pen) as the only alternative for French voters, while left and green political groups have once again disappeared.
The second is the growing number of people who loathe both Macron and Le Pen and refuse to participate in this travesty of democracy. Today, students stormed the University of Sorbonne, chanting “no to Macron, no to Le Pen,” expressing the wrath and despair felt by French voters as a result of such a contentious election.
This time, like in the previous five years, a sizable portion of the French population will either abstain from voting or vote with extreme aversion. Only those citizens whose political views are consistent with the traditional right and far-right political lines will be enthusiastic about voting in the election.
We may safely argue that voter turnout in the country’s most important election (the presidential election) has never been lower in the previous 40 years of French elections.
The presidential election in France is unlike any other nation in terms of political power dynamics. With no one to answer to, the French president wields an authority equivalent to that of a monarch in a kingdom. Furthermore, the political system is set up in such a manner that there are no meaningful checks and balances on presidential authority and the French parliament merely serves as a rubber stamp for the Elysée Palace’s orders.
The entire executive branch is the president’s prerogative, whereas the judiciary is nothing but semi-independent. Hundreds of institutions and non-governmental entities are also under the President’s direct jurisdiction. As a consequence, it becomes obvious why this election is so critical for French political destiny. But, why do over 40% of French citizens decline to vote in such an important election, or only vote unwillingly and with fear?
Furthermore, why hasn’t France, the so-called guardian of citizenship and human rights, faced a calamitous scenario like this where the people are presented with two equally dreadful options: “traditional right versus extreme right”? Also, why are the left-wing forces, who hold substantial influence in all democratic countries, not participating in this crucial election?
When considering the evolution of traditional left and right parties, the first issue that arises is what forces have deceived the pro-left and pro-right from their social bases? The political movement associated with President Macron was the first to gain from the breakup of the conventional French party system.
Macron ran for president with the slogan “neither left nor right” after serving as French economic adviser and then minister of economy in the socialist administration, where he endorsed neoliberal economic policies while presenting himself as a liberal-social figure. By exploiting the shortcomings of the traditional left and right-wing parties, as well as the massive financial support of major capitalists and their networks, he was able to seize power in 2017.
With Macron’s election, he was able to garner a significant portion of the Socialist Party’s and traditional right-wing voters. Macron’s win was facilitated by the Socialist Party and the traditional right, rather than by his own personal ability and political acumen. In other words, conventional parties’ weakness and, in some instances, “disgrace” paved the path for Macron to enter the Elysée Palace.
“La France Insoumise,” led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a former minister who rose through the ranks of the Socialist Party, was the second movement to disrupt the French traditional party structure and draw voters away from established political parties.
In the 2017 elections, Mélenchon received over 19 percent of the vote, and in 2022, he won over 20% of the vote. The growth of La France Insoumise’s supporters coincided with the tragic collapse of both the socialist and communist parties. The “La France Insoumise” is a radical social-democratic current, not a revolutionary one, according to the world’s political left.
Although Macron campaigned on the motto “neither left nor right,” his policies leaned completely toward the right and were notably neo-liberal in color and tone.
In the last 20 years, about 30,000 government hospital beds have been decommissioned, as have a large number of health workers. Hospitals’ deplorable status during the COVID-19 crisis, their incapacity to respond to patient needs, and the escalating number of fatalities were all results of the French faltering public health system. In previous years, there has been no word of a wage increase, and public sector employees’ salaries have remained unchanged, with the exception of a small increase on the eve of the elections. Not to mention the decrease in work facilities, budget cuts, and the firing of non-classroom employees in schools.
It was not without cause that France’s strongest protest movement in decades, the “Mouvement des Gilets Jaunes,” emerged in opposition to Macron and his corrupt administration.
Macron embraced the right-wing parties’ socio-economic policies of the preceding three decades, cutting social services and downsizing the public sector, including government agencies. As a consequence, a major part of the country’s national income, which was formerly distributed to the lower classes through the operation of these public-sector organizations, was slashed, severely impacting the lower classes’ economic prospects.
Aside from the Les Gilets Jaunes, pensioners marched in the streets on a regular basis to protest that their benefits did not keep pace with inflation. Workers and governmental employees participated in similar strikes and demonstrations.
The third political trend that has benefited from the demise of traditional parties, particularly the left, is the far-right, which has spent the last four decades promoting anti-immigrant sentiment as France’s main political and social challenge and taking racist positions against minorities of color and religious minorities, most notably Muslims.
Right-wing forces were able to attract votes previously held by leftist parties (due to their pro-immigrant policies) by turning Arab and Muslim citizens into scarecrows in the eyes of the simple-minded people of the disadvantaged and destitute classes, and claiming that they are the primary cause of France’s socio-economic misery.
Aside from constantly absorbing support from the old right’s racist or fascist tendencies, many French saw the far-right as more in tune with their “anti-other” instincts.
From five years ago onwards, the three main political forces in France were Macron’s “La République en Marche!”, the far-right’s “National Rally”, and the third, Mélenchon’s “La France Insoumise”.
Another political force to be reckoned with is the green currents, which won about 15 percent of the vote in most elections, save the presidential election, with their candidate winning less than 5 percent of the vote in the recent presidential election. This political current is close to the left forces in terms of taking a stand on social issues.
After establishing the major players in French political chess and the balance of their powers, it is necessary to explain why the arrangement of political parties was shattered and why the current volatile scenario has taken place.
The first explanation for this may be found in the long-term process that began 40 years ago with the closure of factories and production hubs in France and the relocation of their operations and capital to low-wage nations. As a consequence, millions of French workers were either laid off or shifted to service sectors. These voters’ disenchantment resulted in apathy toward the conventional left parties (both socialist and communist). These disillusioned leftists, many of whom joined the far-right party, were drawn in by Le Pen’s persistent assertions that immigrants were to blame for their woes.
Another issue contributing to France’s present bizarre political atmosphere is the news and media. Since Sarkozy, the political establishment has helped to concentrate attention on the media market, from newspapers to radio and television, to the advantage of big business. The large majority of newspapers, journals, radio, and television outlets are currently owned by five billionaires. One of these billionaires has publicly endorsed Eric Zemmour, an extreme right-wing pundit who has galvanized all of the right’s forces against immigration and Muslims. The media have played and continue to play an essential role in forming a pernicious political climate and molding public opinion, fooling those who are unable to discern France’s real problems.
