The far right advances by Arnaldo Casterlleras
Twenty percent of voters in the recent presidential election chose one of the two lists celebrating nationalism, the family, private education and religion, and a reduction in women's rights. Catholic fundamentalist Philippe de Villiers won 4.8%, and the National Front's Jean-Marie Le Pen 15.3%. This is a considerable advance over the 1988 presidential election, when Le Pen, the only far-right candidate, polled 14.4%. De Villiers' constituency is more rural and conservative than Le Pen's, but the National Front can count on the Catholic fundamentalists as a reserve army of support - widening the appeal of the far-right, without posing a threat to Le Pen's leadership.
The far right vote is not a temporary protest vote against the big parties. A full 46% of Le Pen voters say they made their choice on the basis of the National Front's programme. Only 34% of Communist Party
France Socialists, and 17% for the Communists. For the first time, Le Pen also came first among the unemployed 27%, compared to 19% for Jacques Chirac and 17% for the Socialist candidate Leonel Jospin).
The major parties are adapting their policies to take account of the far right element government of Prime Minister Alain Juppé might contain a record number of women, but all are prominent opponents of women's rights. The racist and authoritarian police and immigration laws of former Pasqua will be maintained. Just outside the government, Le Pen will be there to stiffen the rightconcessions. His refusal to support Jacques Chirac in the second round presidential runoff with Socialist Party candidate Lionel Jospin enables him to speak out on social questions too, and to distance himself from any unpopular voters say the same.!
Nor are National Front voters primarily motivated by the call for a strong leader. Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front According to university researcher and anti-fascist activist Nona Mayer, "only 6% of "LePenists" say their leader has 'statesman qualities", and only 27% say they voted for him 'so that he can become the President. They voted for Le Pen because of his ideas."
An exit poll suggested that the main preoccupation of all voters were unemployment (cited by 29%) and social inequality (16%). In comparison, 54% of Le Pen voters were mainly concerned with immigration (cited by only 13% of all voters) and only 23% were concerned with unemployment. Le Pen voters were also three times more likely to cite insecurity as a major concern (14%) than the average voter (5%). 2
National Front voters make a simplistic equation between immigration and unemployment. Many of them are concerned with the social and economic implications of an increasingly threatening phenomena of unemployment, and someone is telling them that the solution to this problem is dealing with immigration. Three out of four Le Pen voters also say they are concerned' about their personal and professional future, While two thirds believe that democracy in France works badly (compared to 58% and 41% of the electorate as a whole). Who votes for the far right?
Trotskyist presidential candidate Arlette Laguiller (Workers' Struggle/Lutte ouvriere) was wrong when she claimed, in a television debate, that National Front voters come from the nicer part of town" and that only a "few lost sheep" among working class voters were attracted to the extreme right. The fact is that more blue collar working class voters supported Le Pen than any other candidate. 27% voted National Front, compared to 20% for the policies of the new administration. The National Front vote was 15-20% in 21 of France's 96 territorial départements, and 21% or higher in 11 more. This is a clear increase on the 1988 presidential election (1-20% in 16 départements, 21% or more in eight). If this pattern is repeated in the municipal elections in November, the National Front will hold the balance of power in two out of three towns with over 30,000 inhabitants. *
Notes:
1. As compared to 26% of Green voters, 23% of Trotskyist voters, and 24% of those who voted for the winning candidate, Jacques Chirac of the conservative RPR. Libération, 25 April 1995
Nona Mayer, Special election issue of Ras I'front, no. 29, June 1995 International Viewpoint #267 June 1995 15
French anti-fascists organise
France - the far right The main anti-fascist movement, Ras I'front (Fed up with the Front) is not just concerned with the National Front as such. The "Appeal of 250" which launched the movement in 1990 stressed that "the progression of the far right is the result of our retreats". . The movement argues, therefore, that the left must stop retreating on social and democratic issues, and move onto the offensive, not just against the fascists, but against all policies which go in the same direction - like the racist citizenship laws and new police powers introduced under former Interior Minister Charles Pasqua. Having recognised that the failures of Social Democratic governments, and Socialist or Communist municipal councils have contributed to the rise in support for the far right, Ras front Jealously guards its pluralist and independent character. Militants of the
"Jews and Arabs friends and united,
"Our looks aren't against the law" Several hundred people gathered in the heavily ethnic neighbourhood of Belleville in Paris Monday May 29, 1995 to protest against alleged racial slurs made by police officers various left organisations are a minonity in the organisation, and the consensus so far has been to agree on elements which can bring the greatest number of anti-fascists together, while leaving each component group free to popularise its own political interpretation and strategy. In addition, the movement encourages debate on a new social project, which could represent a different solution to the current crisis. It is important to intervene in the antiracist demonstrations which generally follow fascist attacks on blacks and Arabs. The participation of anti-fascists should strive to carry the greatest number of people past the stage of protest, and integrate them into an ongoing struggle against racism and fascism. Fighting fascism also means campaigning everywhere that fascist
Seil
ideas are flourishing. It means ensuring an anti-fascist presence in campaigns against marginalisation homelessness - two areas where the National Front and its scapegoat propaganda are gaining ground. * For more information contact Philippe Crottet, Ras I'front, BP 87, 75561 Paris cedex 12, tel. (+33 1 42 64 80 25 Ras 'front is also part of the European Anti-Racist Network, which can be contacted c/o MRAX, 37 rue de la Poste, B-1210 Brussels, Belgium. *
TeHen!
during an identity check
Friday 26 May. Fifteen people were injured Friday when about 250 Arab and
Jewish residents clashed with police after harassment of an Arab resident.
16
International Viewpoint #267 June 1995
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