The significance of the French Elections for the European working class
Earlier we wrote about the socialist idea of the Popular Front as a general response to political crisis and a threat from the right. In France we see this theory applied and the consequences for the working class.
The context of the French elections was the collapse in support for President Macron In the European election alongside a rise of the far right National Rally (RN) and then a desperate gamble by him to regain support in a snap election for the parliament. (Macron himself stays on as president).
The immediate response of the left groups was to form the New Popular Front and run joint candidates to counter the rise of Marine Le Pen’s RN party. As in past popular front formations, the justification was that they had to form the broadest unity to face the far right/fascist threat.
Their programme includes a substantial increase in the minimum wage, wages indexed to prices and free school lunches. Most importantly the NFP wants to prioritise investment in the future by increasing public spending on infrastructure.
The NFP’s plans are balanced from a budgetary viewpoint: investment in future growth and productivity as well as in energy and climate transition could be made affordable through progressive wealth taxation, the introduction of an exit tax on capital and effective taxation of multinational firms.
There are a number of points about this programme: Note the programme is fully costed – code that accepts that the banks must agree that profits will not be threatened. The language hardly reflects the claims of a crisis or fascist takeover. Will workers take to the barricades shouting; “for a costed investment in infrastructure!” it should also be noted that the programme is largely imaginary. There is no prospect of the left taking power with a parliamentary majority. Finally the programme is an electoral agreement and shouts about confronting fascists in the streets are rhetorical. The only function of the programme is to allow unity with neoliberal parties such as the French Socialist Party, responsible for many of the initial austerity drives against the working class, and even including François Hollande, a former prime minister infamous for austerity and anti-migrant sentiment at home and for involvement in the imperialist adventure that destroyed Libya.
The Communist Party, a member of the Popular Front, has retreated from any socialist positions and has accommodated to racism and anti-migrant sentiments in the past. Even the Green Party can be included in this “left” alliance! The largest radical element of the front was the left populist party La France Insoumise led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
So the platform of the electoral alliance was paper thin, and it’s justification, an immediate threat of fascists in power, quite slight.
However, the reason for panic in the face of Fascism is that the fascist programme involves the dismantling of democracy and the smashing up of the workers movement. Is this the case? The National Rally has evolved from a fascist group. It is still extremely dangerous, but it has spent many years distancing itself from its roots and does not propose the dissolving of parliament or rule of the brownshirts. In fact its proposals in relation to the living standards of workers are not that far from those of the reformist left.
What about Giorgia Meloni? Her Brothers of Italy party has a direct line of descent from Mussolini, but as soon as she won power she fitted in perfectly with the neoliberal consensus – her party is a far right party, but one operating within the parliamentary system.
Cries of Fascism seemed to mask an inability on the left to deal with Macron and the overall offensive by French capital in general. The burning resentment amongst French workers at pension cuts was deepened by the fact that Macron imposed them by decree, bypassing the French parliament and the unions and left had no effective response.
Another example of government by decree is French military involvement in supporting Israeli genocide and, closer to home, threatening a direct military conflict with Russia. Many on the left support the West in Ukraine, and this illustrates their enormous political weakness and inability to take on absolutely essential tasks in defence of the working class.
Essentially the leftists are playing political theatre. They hark back to the days of a full blown Fascist movement organised as armed detachments and in direct conflict with battalions of workers, determined to cast aside democratic structures and rule with the club.
Today the capitalist states and imperialism lead the charge against workers. It is they who implement privatisation and cuts in public services and living standards. It is they who practice genocide, lead the drive towards World War lll, suspend freedom of expression and democratic rights. Rather than moving forward as a spearhead, the far right follow behind at the invitation of the capitalists with the aim of dividing the workers and consolidating a new barbarism.
In the first round of voting the popular front strategy seemed successful. Although the right gained the largest section of the vote, the popular front came second and Macron trailed far behind.
The second round was again claimed as a victory for the leftists. The National Rally was pushed into third place, the popular front came out on top and Macron’s group came second.
But this hides the central weakness of the strategy. It was claimed that because it was an alliance of the left, there was no concession to capitalism. However, in the second round many NFP candidates stood down in favour of Macron’s candidates. This creates an unstated alliance with the main capitalist party and strengthens claims by the right that they have been frozen out by a left/centre establishment.
The signs are ominous. Mélenchon’s calls to be appointed Prime Minister are opposed by his allies in the NFP who call for adult behaviour. They are open to an alliance with Macron. At the same time it has emerged that there have been ongoing secret meetings between Macron’s supporters and the far right.
The NFP stepping back in the second round vote reduced its own strength and boosted Macron. Now the capitalists have an opportunity to co-opt from left and right and to move further to the right themselves. Defections from the NFP will critically weaken it. On the other hand there has been a limited mobilisation. If it is to develop the activists will have to shake free from the ideas of the popular front.
The crisis of French capital means that Government Debt stands at €3 trillion and that the Debt to GDP ratio stands at over 110%. This will not be resolved through a tax the rich call but by repudiation of that debt. Going along with nonsensical claims that Putin is about to march on Paris must be replaced by a clear-eyed rejection of the proxy war in Ukraine and calls for an end to the militaristic and genocidal policy of French capitalism.
We should not accommodate to the crisis of capitalism. Rather we must begin the task of constructing a revolutionary alternative. The dominance of electoralism and popular frontism is not a sign of the strength of the socialist movement, but of its weakness. Not just in France but across Europe. We have neither the forces to build a mass working class party or for mass mobilisation on the streets, but we can describe the new capitalist offensive and set forward the tasks for workers in the assurance that the workers will step forward in their own defence.