ANGER AND APATHY IN FRANCE'S PRESIDENTIAL RACE

[VikLevaPatel]

France's presidential race is dominated by centrist President Emmanuel Macron (25 percent), right-wing Valerie Pecresse (16 percent), far-right Marine Le Pen (16 percent) and far-right Eric Zemmour (13 percent).

France will vote for its new president in April in an election marked by division over the ongoing response to Covid-19, balancing the nation’s economy, tackling unemployment and questions over national identity. Polls suggest that Macron is favored to win a second term, but the race is close and unpredictable. At this stage, either Le Pen or Valerie Pecresse from the mainstream conservative Republicans party appear most likely to reach a runoff against Macron.

Who will win French election 2022? | The Week UK

Christiane Taubira wins unofficial ‘people’s primary’ held by the French left

Emmanuel Macron is highly likely to be re-elected as France’s president

Two months before the French presidential vote, nothing seems likely to prevent a debacle for the French left wing that until five years ago dominated France’s political landscape. “Them” are the seven left-wing candidates running for president in the country’s April 10 elections. None polls higher than 8 percent and all of them combined barely reach 25 percent, a historic low for the left.

French Election Update: Can Anyone Beat Macron? - TLDR News

France’s dueling far-right presidential candidates are holding back-to-back campaign rallies Saturday, trying to steal each other’s thunder and keep their anti-immigration, anti-Islam agenda front and center in the race for the April presidential election. Marine Le Pen, who came in second in the last presidential election in 2017, is holding what’s billed as her first major campaign event in the city of Reims in Champagne country. She will present her platform and try to reinvigorate her base after some high-profile defections to the campaign of rival Eric Zemmour. Both Le Pen and Zemmour want tougher rules on immigration, including less state aid for migrants. Both oppose wind farms and want more support for nuclear energy. Le Pen, who used to campaign to leave the EU and the euro, now wants instead to reform it from within. The French left, meanwhile, is deeply divided, with multiple candidates vying for the presidency but none expected to have a chance of reaching the runoff. Other candidates include far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, Greens candidate Yannick Jadot, Socialist Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and former Justice Minister and anti-racism campaigner Christiane Taubira.

Zemmour, a pundit and provocateur who has been repeatedly convicted of hate speech, planned a rally in the northern city of Lille on the same day as Le Pen’s, apparently to try to draw attention away from her.

Both are hoping to unseat President Emmanuel Macron in the two-round election April 10 and 24. Macron has a campaign team in place but has yet to officially declare his candidacy. A centrist, he has shifted to the right amid growing support for conservative and far-right policies, notably on security and immigration.

Le Pen, a member of parliament, has been working for a decade to clean up the image of her National Rally party and build up its political base, to make it more palatable to a broader swath of voters and improve her chances at the presidency.

Zemmour has no political experience but is widely known for his role as a TV commentator that allowed him to spread his extreme views. His program includes banning women from wearing Muslim headscarves in public and prohibiting construction of any “imposing” mosques or minarets.

He was convicted last month of inciting racial hatred for calling underage migrants thieves, rapists and murderers. Zemmour previously was convicted of incitement to racial hatred after justifying discrimination against Black and Arab people in 2010, and of incitement to religious hatred for anti-Islam comments in 2016.

Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie also has repeated hate speech convictions, but Marine Le Pen is more cautious.

[TheMaestro]

Are you a BOT?

[barnumandbailey]

Are you a BOT?

[barnumandbailey]

VikLevaPatel is TA's resident newscaster.

[VikLevaPatel]

Apathy and Anger in France’s Election Everytown

Auxerre has backed the winner in every French presidential race for 40 years. This time, the town’s politics are drifting right, and many struggling residents see little to vote for.

Today, like much of France, Auxerre has experienced a shift to the right, the result of a malaise that stems in part from the difficulties of getting a job in the provincial town, and stagnant earnings for those who are employed — as well as from less tangible fears over immigration and crime. “It’s as if some people let themselves be intoxicated by the comments on a national scale,” he said. “But frankly, we cannot consider that Auxerre is a city where there is insecurity.” The crime rate in Auxerre is higher than the national average but far below that in Paris. This drift rightward has been accompanied by growing disillusionment with politics as a whole. Many people seem to have given up on the idea that political change can make any difference to their lives.

[VikLevaPatel]

This drift rightward has been accompanied by growing disillusionment with politics as a whole. Many people seem to have given up on the idea that political change can make any difference to their lives.

Reminds me of the line "If voting mattered they'd make it illegal."

Or, alternately, 'If Voting Made a Difference, They Wouldn't Let Us Do It.'

[Petalpusher]

Eastern France is always more right wing. What they mean is it became more "far right", as opposed to the traditional right party (LR, former RPR). Both PS and LR will likely die after the upcoming election (Left PS is for sure). Macron just managed to cannibalize both of these dying parties. Old right LR should have won that election easily otherwise.

1st round 2017 election

[Dick]

Eastern France is always more right wing. What they mean is it became more "far right", as opposed to the traditional right party (LR, former RPR). Both PS and LR will likely die after the upcoming election (Left PS is for sure). Macron just managed to cannibalize both of these dying parties. Old right LR should have won that election easily otherwise.

1st round 2017 election

Vote for the Guillotine Party. Let's slaughter the freemason crypto-jews once and for all

[Petalpusher]

Vote for the Guillotine Party. Let's slaughter the freemason crypto-jews once and for all

That actually would be Mélenchon, who is antisemite/anticapitalist and pro immigration. While he's getting minorities votes for being all that (we won St Denis "famous" Paris suburb in 2017), it gets people confused in general.