The Luck Of The Draw

 The Constitution of the Fifth French Republic, drafted by General Charles deGaulle, was adopted by referendum in 1958. It institutionalized a separationof powers required by de Gaulle to give legitimacy to the way he came topower, namely through a soft, non-violent coup. With rioting in the streetsof Algiers by the French Algerian population in May 1958, the War fordecolonization began to tear at France's stability. The military turned tode Gaulle, then in retirement, in the hopes of a swift retaliation againstAlgeria's Front de Liberation Nationale. Retaliation it got, though it wasinsufficient to keep Algeria within the folds of the greater Frenchrepublican empire.

Through alliance with de Gaulle the military were able to orchestrate afundamental change in the French State by means of a political processaccepted by the Assemblé nationale. In case of opposition from progressiveFrench political forces, the military would back up de Gaulle through a planto secure the country's Republican institutions, which involved parachutingthe Army into Paris to take control of the major entry points to the city.In the end, there was no need for such muscled invention. De Gaulle went onto have a glorious presidency, finally taking leave of office in 1969 uponsuffering defeat in a referendum on proposals regarding regionalization andreform of the Senate.

According to the 1958 Constitution, the President is elected to a seven-yearterm, with legislative elections occurring at five-year intervals at thelongest. It foremost established strong presidential control overgovernment. The President names the head of the executive administration,the Prime Minister, who then presents the selected cabinet to him forapproval, usually a process in protocol.

In the event of a national crisis, as had been taking place since 1954 withthe Algerian war, or during the general public sector strikes of 1995, thepresident has the choice of either changing the government or calling forearly legislative elections--all in the guise of an abstract, non-partisanvoice. Which is why it's erroneous to claim, as do many Anglo-Americanobservers, that the President's position is akin to that of the King's, allin new designer clothing. In fact, the position of President represents theembodiment of the political 'Idea' in its philosophical sense. Recall thatin the 18th century, the 'res publica', or 'public thing', made concrete theprinciple by which Rousseau's social contract gained legitimacy as apolitical process.

De Gaulle's republicanism can ultimately be deemed fundamentalist. Afterall, he reached back to the philosophical bases of the republic to connectthem to the trinitarian Idea by which it was fostered: liberte, egalite,fraternite. This is what also compels every president to take a distancefrom the party through which he came to power.

While the coup-scented origins of the Fifth Republic are just one of themany historical omissions haunting the French sensibility, its evolution,right through the rockiest moments of May-June 1968, brought France out ofthe political instability that has continued to haunt a country like Italyuntil recently. The Constitution sprouted new leaves as President FrancoisMitterand, one of de Gaulle--and the Fifth Republic's--most outspokencritics in 1958, was forced to share power with the center-right for much ofhis 14 years in power. Now, with the results in of the 2002 presidentialvote stretching the Constitution to the expansible limits, France has beengraced with an incredible surprise.

To be sure, most troubled among the French are the media and press. No oneamong the latter, perhaps not even Front National supporters, would have beton this unusual outcome. Through shock at their critical inefficiency, theFrench print and television media are emitting waves of panic through apopulation that can only be said to be riled by the ripples. Late intoSunday evening, and throughout Monday, spontaneous peaceful demonstrations,thousands strong, sprouted up throughout France. Most prominent amongdemonstrators are the youth. They're protesting the results of the mostmundane election campaign in French history, one which has allowed the FrontNational candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen, to eliminate out-going SocialistPrime Minister, Lionel Jospin.

According to French polling rules, the presidential elections, a direct votefor the candidate, takes place in a two-step election process. The top twofinalists meet a second time in run-off elections, which is how Le Pen hasmanaged to face off with current President Jacques Chirac for the top job.The process allows for alliances to take shape in the two-week periodbetween polling, just as it guarantees a majority vote. With victory of theNational Front unlikely, France is still facing the first prospectof beingruled by the extreme-right since the 1940s.

This year's elections saw a record number of candidates running, with 16 inall. The first three among them came within 2 percentage points from eachother: current president Jacques Chirac scored 19.7%, with Jean-Marie Le Penfinishing second at 16.94%, barely a breath ahead of Lionel Jospin's 16.12%.Few in France would have expected the vocally far-right candidate Le Pen tokeep increasing his standing as he has since first being elected to theAssemblee nationale in 1956 and forming the Front national party in 1972.The fact that he has, however, must be placed in the perspective of theleading presidential candidate: Abstentionism.

Tallied at 28.4%, with an additional 3.37% blank or disqualified ballots,this is a remarkable, though not entirely surprising, event for the cradleof modern politics. French youth and progressive intellectuals have tired ofFrance's lack luster political scene. The successive 'co-habitations' mayhave moved the Socialist Party closer to the center-right Rassemblement Pourla Republique (RPR). It has also sent the voices of those dubious of themedia's proclaimed disappearance of the Left-Right cleavage intoapoliticism. Nonetheless, many French youth share an identical belief, whichis their disdain of Le Pen's Front National. But the fact that this partyhas finished in second place is a direct result of the youth's decision toboycott these first-round elections--at least as they were meant to takeplace with Chirac against Jospin in the run-off.

Still, France's political process could have absorbed such abstentionistattitudes were it not for the split that has also occurred within the votingLeft. With the discontents of globalization contesting the good mood of theJospin team throughout his term, the Prime Minister has taken the results asa rejection of his personal political contribution. The irony is that he hasbeen sanctioned for reasons perhaps not owing to what is incumbent to hismandate under the Constitution. The rewards, by contrast, have beenharvested by a professional politician whose presidential immunity has thusfar sheltered him from a major corruption scandal. Moreover, the obstaclesblocking the investigation have led to the recent resignations of twoleading judges in the French criminal court system. Ultimately, there's somesense to the saying that only the Socialists have known how to make JacquesChirac look his best. At this point, the gent from Corrèze can only becounting his lucky stars.

Mr Jospin's campaign was run at a time when taking political sides increasesthe stakes of the political game. France has suffered a spate ofanti-Israeli violence which, for all intents and purposes, cannot bedistinguished from anti-Semitic acts. This led the media and spin-doctors tolend a touch of 'l'exception française' to the predominant theme drivingworld politics today: terror. Yet France is too historically rich a nationto merely co-op that lowly American veil for incompetent governance, nowtainting the Bush administration. It was, after all, Robespierre'scommitment to virtue that accelerated the guillotine's macabre glide andfirst conferred to progeny the label of 'Reign of Terror'--as a positivetrait no less. The French would improvise upon the day's theme in aconvergence of concerns, decrying 'l'insécurité' instead. Despite the factthat homicides, according to official French statistics, have actuallydecreased during Jospin's term, the high-rise unemployment and poverty inthe suburbs of France's largest cities have seemed to cast the screen for adifferent type of film.

What about Monsieur Le Pen? A former legionnaire, who fought in the Frenchcolonial wars of Indochina and Algeria, he bears the parachuter physique ofthose supporting de Gaulle in 1958. Found guilty of assault against a femaleSocialist candidate in 1997, which finally barred him from office for ayear, he actually hates the center-right coalition represented by Chiracmore. They are the ones who have kept him from gaining political legitimacy,while opportunistically co-opting his campaign themes whenever needing torally farther right voters.

No matter how much his pretty PR and press people--BB Brigitte Bardot isamong them--are working to press his racism into the new 'nationalism', andhow much FN dialecticians perfect his spotted historical interpretations,his political past projects every bit of the role the man's mystiqueharbors. I saw him give a speech at the Jeanne d'Arc statue on Worker's Day1991, which he recuperated as did his Italian and German masters of anothertime. The whole scene, with Medieval banners shinning in the spring sun, wasreally quite reminiscent of Monty Python's Holy Grail. The look on theskinhead bodyguards' faces quickly reminded me that these gentlemandistinctly lacked a sense of humor.

By North American standards, there should be little to be intimidated about.He's certainly no farther right than is George W. Bush's glimmer of apolitical vision, or his Canadian equivalent Stockwell Day's (now beingreplaced by same). He represents 'la France profonde' (Deep France) everybit as much as the latter two preach for the Bible Belt and ConservativeCanada. And, compared to Ariel Sharon, he's a Ken-doll figure. The maindifference probably has to do with his nostalgia for the shiny boots of theSS, instead of the high-tech velocity of American might. Although Le Pen isno friend of France's Jewish population, let alone of Israel, his mainscourge is France's large North-African Maghrebin population. Le Pen's viewsare, in fact, more faithful to the real sense of 'anti-Semitism': he hatesall foreigners from the South, Middle and East, no matter whether they'reJews or Arabs, point à la ligne.

Le Pen's second place finish is nothing more than a matter of luck, relatedto the direct vote scheme. Five years ago, his party nearly imploded througha power struggle with No. 2 Bruno Megret, voicing the 'intellectual' wing.It's only through a kiss and make-up gesture that they can expect to combinevotes to reap 20%. However scandalous that tally may appear, it's thefrightening, newly-opened Pandora's Box that has created the most anxietyfor the French--and they know it. As political parties have scurried torally behind candidate Chirac, and the media stutters in trying to explainhow they misjudged voting trends, the population is bemused by a notaltogether disconcerting spectacle. Mainstream politicians are imploring thepeople to keep their 'good sense' and bring a president back into power whohas barely gathered 20% of the popular vote and lacks any political visionapart from the kind of opportunism we all attribute to the world's secondoldest profession.

More importantly, the entire population of France is aware that Mr Chirachas a corruption charge pending against him for the years of absolutist ruleover Paris city hall. He might very well have to face those charges, likethe average Frenchman would, when and if he leaves office. Those disgruntledand disgusted with how corrupt French politics are have already rejectedChirac and his crony bureaucracy. It's the anger of those who might go on todo so--like Arlette Laguiller, head of the Union-friendly 'Lutte Ouvriere'(Worker's Struggle), who has already refused to yield her 5.74%--that willmake France tremble for the next two weeks. The stakes are now being set onassuming how much the French as a whole are willing to display their 'goodsense'.

Prior to moving to Brazil, Norman Madarasz lived in France, where he did his doctoral research in philosophy and the social sciences under thesupervision of Alain Badiou. He welcomes comments at: normanmadarasz@hotmail.com.This article originally appeared in Counterpunch, April 22, 2002.