France: the new political map
France's political elite is in crisis. Only 58% of voters participated in regional elections in March. And only 2/3 of those voting supported the parties of the current government (Socialist, Communist and Green) or the two conservative opposition parties (UDF and RPR). In other words, only one in three registered voters is somehow represented by the "mainstream" parties - including the Communists and the Greens. Christian Picquet*
Of course, there was enormous variety in the motivations of those who didn't vote, or who supported one of the minor parties. But there clearly a suspicion -even an open defiance - of the political
Fascist leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. His Front National scored 15.3% in regional system. Twenty years of crisis and unempelections in March. Possibly enough to force the other conservative parties to loyment have converged with the lack of form a tactical alliance - breaking the far-right's isolation, and enabling it to win popular interest in the identical policies new layers of support, and credibility with the moderate right, media, and which left and right have applied in government.
At each election, the challenge is clearer: either the left responds to the urgent social situation, and gives the victims of neoliberalism new hope in politics, or there will be a further decline in civic participation, mixed with rejection of the existing political parties. All to the benefit of the extreme right, of course.
Little victories for the government
Taken together, the left and far-left parties scored 40.7% - rather higher than in the 1992 regional elections. But the parties of the governing coalition (Socialist, Communist and Green) did worse then they expected (36.5%).
This shows not only working people's critical attitude towards Prime Minister
Jospin, but also a growing distrust of the government, as a result of its refusal to listen to the demands of the unemployed movement, and its other unkept
Leonel Jospin's Communist and Green allies in government are starting to pay for their inconsistency. In many areas, the increased vote for radical candidates to the left of the Communist Party was the result of a significant decline in the Communist
Party's stable electorate, which is increasingly disoriented by their leaders'
On 17 March the Communist Party newspaper L'Humanité, commented that,
"the far left clearly benefited from the protest votes of a section of the left, i.e.
2 International Viewpoint #299 businessmen. communist, electorate: people who feel that the Jospin government is not going fast enough and far enough in its reforms in favour of the most disadvantaged groups of the population."
In these elections, the Greens benefited from the collapse of ecological rivals and splinter groups. But, wherever they stood separately from the Socialist Party, some Green voters preferred to vote for their party's national ally. How to be a Communist and govern?
During the last nine months of participation in government, Party leaders have tried to force their members to accept privatisation, workfare schemes for young people, and another reactionary reform of immigration and citizenship legislation Each time, Party leader Robert Hue has invoked the party's importance, its responsibilities, and its mission as "a bridge between the social movements and the government."
In the past, elections were one of the key opportunities for Party leaders to reaffirm the party's communist identity. Except that, for the first time, the Communist Party presented joint lists with its partners in government. Many militants refused to accept this, particularly where the common candidate was a prominent member of the Socialist Party. A majority of Communist Party members in Lille, and 40% of Nord-Pas-de-Calais members voted against "their" candidates.
Not surprisingly, this also meant a lacklustre election campaign, with most of work done by mid-level cadres rather than the rank-and-file.
Paradoxically, emerged from these elections stronger than before - thanks to a ruthless selection of candidates. But he is under pressure from the rank-and-file to make some verbal concessions towards the far left. Not that this will worry Prime Minister Leonel Jospin - who is relying on the Communist Party to absorb any stray Growing tension on the right
The conservative RPR-UDF opposition will look back on these elections as the beginning of the end. In last years parliamentary elections, they won 34.2% of the vote. In these regional elections, they won only 28.1%. Key personalities like Edouard Balladur and Charles Pasqua did badly, and in many regions the right's only chance for government will be some kind of agreement with either the extreme right or the socialist party.
The far-right National Front is now as large as each of the two conservative parties, as well as being more ideologically coherent and well organised. Fascist leaders Jean-Marie Le Pen and his deputy
Bruno Mégret are gracefully imposing themselves. The "classic" conservative parties must now either merge into a single liberal-conservative-republican party (which would mean sacrificing part of the leadership and the parliamentary superstructure), or negotiate some kind of re-composition of the right as a whole. Many local conservative politicians resent their leaders' refusal to co-operate with the National Front. But, in any kind of recomposition across the "Republican line" which separates the "democratic" right parties from the fascists, Le Pen's party will be the dominant component.
The National Front maintained its share of the vote (15.3%) - the same score as during the 1997 parliamentary elections. In greater Paris and some other regions the fascist vote is stagnant, but in the industrially depressed north, east and south-east, the party reached new levels of voter support. In the large south-eastern region of Provence-Alps-Cote d'Azur, the National Front won as many votes as the conservative parties combined. In Bouches-du-Rhone, Vaucluse and Var it did even better.
This is enabling the National Front to impose itself as arbiter in those 13 of the country's 21 mainland regions where the left coalition didn't win a relative majority of votes. Although the leadership of the RPR and UDF were determined to refuse co-operation with the National Front, even if this kept them out of power, the fascist strategy of offering alliances is progressively weakening the cohesion of the conservative parties. Any local split in the RPR UDF would be a step forward for the National Front in its march to power. The radical left
Radical and far-left candidates won almost one million votes (4.2%), and imposed themselves as a new fundamental element on the political map. This is partly the result of the popular re-mobilisation which started in winter 1995, and partly a reflection of growing rejection of the right and of neo-liberal policies, whoever implements them. This "social radicalism" has existed in France for some time. What is perhaps new is the reduced capacity of the Communist and Green parties to capture these votes, now that they are locked into the "pluralist parliamentary majority."
The Trotskyist group Lutte ouvrière (Workers Struggle - LO), was the main benefactor of this political radicalisation, winning 4.8% of the vote in those regions where the group presented candidates. This impressive score is partly the result of the group's tradition of electoral participation, and the considerable portion of its energies which it devotes to elections. Lutte ouvrière also has, in Arlette Laguiller, a well-known and popular rep-
Unusually, this latest Lutte ouvrière campaign was less crude in its characterisation of the Socialist and conservative parties as two sides of the same coin.
With 19 elected members of the new regional assemblies, LO has made a significant step forward in electoral support. While their support is nation-wide, it is particularly strong in the declining industrial areas of northern France. Clear proof that there is nothing automatic in the farright's ability to win over working class voters in these areas.
To stabilise this vote - unique in Europe for a Trotskyist group - LO needs to build links with those militants who are leading social struggles at a local level. Can LO work in and with a milieu increasingly used to pluralist practice and unity? Or will its elected representatives see themselves only as public spokespeople for their own group? The LCR's new challenge
And, for the first time, the Ligue communiste révolutionaire (Revolutionary Communist League - LCR) also benefited from the leftward shift of some sections of the electorate. The LCR vote included a significant number of former Communist Party sympathisers and voters, and, to a lesser extent, frustrated Socialist Party and Green voters, looking for a genuine left
Unlike Lutte ouvrière, the LCR managed to build broader electoral coalitions in 12 regions. These lists received an average score of 2.7%, a considerable improvement on the 1.26% of votes in the 1997 parliamentary elections. And this average excludes the result in Nord region, where the LCR supported a Green list which won 8.76% of the vote.
Despite this success, which included the election of two LCR members to the Breton regional assembly, the group has recognised a number of shortcomings in
Unlike LO's stable voter base, the potential LCR electorate is clearly more tempted to cast a "useful" vote for a larger party.
Another problem is the LCR's inconsistent participation in electoral politics, and the bewildering range of names under themselves: 19 in these latest elections.
Of course, this reflects the atomisation and division of the left forces and social movements in which the LCR is active and influential. And, despite the variations of name, the growing convergence of forces which, alongside the LCR, are striving for a change in left politics, is recognisable as a national force. Years of LCR work in building authentic alternative politics are starting to
In the months to come, those who voted for the radical and far left may find their way into the various social move-
In any case, the growing menace on the right, and the advance of the radical and far left, send a clear message to the French government: move to the left, or else! Source: Rouge, 19 March. *Jean-Louis Michel, Arnaldo Castelleras and Georges Villetin also contributed material to this article contents europe
2 France's new political map
• Christian Picquet
4 Europe's Kurdish problem
6 Dutch voters move left • Barend de Voogd and Herman Pieterson
Denmark: Spying on the far left
• Bodil Rasmussen and Age
9 Denmark: election results
• Thomas Eisler
15th International Socialist Youth
Camp • Ditte Løjborg
The other Europe • Liverpool dockers • fascists in Vukovar •
EuroMarch news • trade union left africa
4 Algeria: PST Congress cover feature
12 The fourth world war has started
• Sub-commandante Marcos
17 Neoliberalism's broken mirror
• Daniel Bensaïd americas
16 The other Americas • FZLN
Congress • foreigners expelled from Chiapas • Quebec food redistribution demonstration •
Martinique asia
"To all struggling Indonesian patriots • PRD statement
India: Hindu right takes power: the resistable rise of the BJP • Raghu
Krishnan and B. Skanthakumar
25 South Korea: Sooner or later...
• Terry Lawless
28 Malaysia: Squatters? Urban pioneers! • Syed Husin Ali
29 China: Not so Green Times
• Zhiang Kai regular features
32 conference reports and listing
33 books
36 Radical press review
36 NetWorking • Internet action
Aenva, Tn. 3300675.
Tunoypacos: loovons
106 81 tn^. 9719048. Editor and director: Yannis Felekis, Eressou 34, 106 81
Athens, Greece. Printed by loannis Kotsatos & Cia, Marinou Antipa 4,
163 46 llioupoli, Greece, tel.
(30) 01/9719048. Distributed by
Spartakos, Eressou 34, 106 81 Athens, Greece, tel.(30) 01/3300675.
ISSN: 1294 2925. A monthly analytical review published, under the
International, by auspices
Communications Internationale, - PECI, BP 85, 75522 Paris cedex fax (+33)
France. e-mail <100666.1443@compuserve.com>