This last Sunday afternoon, “National Rally” – led by Marine Le Pen – obtained the overwhelming victory announced for months. With 31.5% of the votes, the list headed by Jordan Bardella obtained the second best result in the history of this election, double that of the presidential list. Although “La Reconquista” (another far-right party, led by Éric Zemmour) for its part surpassed the 5% mark, this tidal wave was fueled by serial reactionary offensives, the radicalization of Macronism and a particularly anti-democratic campaign.
For Valérie Hayer (European parliamentarian from Macron’s party) and Gabriel Attal (prime minister), the defeat is brutal and signals Attal’s failure to revitalize a Macronism in deep crisis and still in a minority in the National Assembly (Lower House of the French parliament). Faced with the political crisis reopened by this result, Emmanuel Macron tried everything this Sunday afternoon, yielding to the call to dissolve the National Assembly launched by Jordan Bardella.
With his surprise announcement, the Chief Executive wants to cause an electric shock and take advantage of the fear of the extreme right and the division of the left to obtain a more governable parliament. A policy accompanied by the tactical announcement that the presidential majority will not present a candidate against the forces belonging to the “republican arc.”
The challenge is clear: to try to recover, in one way or another, sectors of the institutional left and right, at the end of the legislative elections, under the sign of the “republican front.” This coup may not be successful, and will necessarily have the consequence of considerably strengthening the weight of National Regrouping in the Assembly.
By granting victory to the extreme right and trying to channel the emotion aroused by this afternoon’s result in its favor, the Government is thus fulfilling its role as a channel for the extreme right. An extremely dangerous election, which heralds a new reactionary wave, with serious consequences for the world of work and for all the oppressed. In this situation, the urgency is to respond.
After the announcement, calls for “popular fronts” multiplied, based on electoral alliances with regime forces such as the environmentalists or the Socialist Party. The image of this afternoon, in which the Socialist Party rose from its ashes after having been kept alive by the NUPES, reminds us, however, to what extent this strategy is a dead end. In more general terms, any perspective focused on the ballot box and the progressive conquest of institutions seems powerless in the face of the historical strengthening of the extreme right that is being prepared.
On the contrary, only the mobilization of workers and youth from below and confrontation with the regime can offer a way out of the situation. Faced with the crisis, we will have to organize ourselves and provide a perspective in this direction, which defends class independence in the face of electoral impasses. A policy to defend in the places of work, study, in the neighborhoods and on the streets, but also in the next elections, seeking the unity of those who defend that logic. Révolution Permanente will take on this fight with all its strength in the coming days and will participate in initiatives aimed at building a front from below in the face of this situation.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
