A radicalized country
The real issue is purely political. From the elections, from the first round, an important data emerged, which cannot be ignored: 57.8% of voters expressed themselves in favor of a radical, extreme, left (25.5%) or right wing party (32.3%). If we add the Verts, which in France, however, tend to be more pragmatic than elsewhere, the percentage rises to 62.5%: one in three voters wants not a new policy but, in fact, a totally different political system. In fact, Mélenchon, like Le Pen, wants a Sixth Republic, and Zemmour intends to launch a vast institutional reform anyway.
A slightly “political” “technique”
Macron has not given answers to the strong demand for a new policy that recognizes the hardship – not only and not only economic, even if there is no lack of problems – of a large section of the population. It has adopted “technical” measures, it has focused on the efficiency of politics, it has also moved in a relatively unscrupulous way, free as it is from ideological constraints: for example, it has supported the gendarmerie even during difficult moments for the police, it has measures against “Islamist separatism” have been launched, which are opportune but for some critics a bit on the verge of respect for freedom of association (Muslims in France have often voted for Mélenchon). But he has forgotten the vast French territories – apart from the Great national debate with the mayors of the whole country – certainly not decisive, and he has forgotten – despite a purely formal, external homage to the symbolic aspects of politics. “I will respond to the anger of the country,” he said yesterday.
The constraints of non-plebiscite democracy
His path actually has a constraint. It cannot pass or cross the road traced by Le Pen, Zemmour, Mélenchon and the Gilets Jaunes. Despite an evidently authoritarian leadership, everyone is asking for a massive use of referendums, with the aim of unhinging the system: to change the constitution, as in the case of De Gaulle (who however formally moved in the constitutional legality of the fourth republic, without forcing ), or for the approval of international treaties (such as Zemmour). Only one convention, dedicated to the climate, was launched, with the participation – not particularly creative, it seems – of 150 citizens. It is not just a problem of recreating harmony between the French, a very important commitment: it is something that goes beyond that.
The next challenge: the laws of June
Furthermore, the risk will certainly not manifest itself in five years, when Macron will no longer be able to reappear, but immediately, with the legislative elections of 12 and 19 June. The French double shift system inevitably imposes a simplification of the political framework, which is, moreover, left to the voters themselves. However, it is not certain that, in Macron’s very top-down, almost personal party, candidates can always emerge as in 2017, when the novelty-Macron was full. It is no coincidence that Marine Le Pen, while admitting the loneliness of her party (“we are alone”) and confirming her intention to “continue her commitment to France and the French”, launched the “battle of the laws” to avoid that the president can take the majority again. The battle continues.
–
