Perhaps it was after May 6th, the day when everything officially became possible, that I was too disheartened to face the prospect of political commenting for a while.
As a result, this should have been posted a good 2 months ago, and although the ship may have sailed (or yacht, whatever it was) I feel as if I should just put it up, if only for posterity.
The French election was eye-opening indeed, in terms of shedding some light on the French attitude vis-a-vis politics in general, or rather the act or "civil duty" of casting ones vote. The notion of people making the trip to the polls expressely to turn in a blank ballot (or "voter blanc") gave me something of an insight as regards the rapport with democracy the French in general seem to have - a very healthy one. This was evem recognised by the Independant, following the 1st round, which listed a number reasons why the french election was reassuring (makes a nice change, the media admitting everything might actually be going ok, rather than milking a perceived "crisis of representation" for all it's worth).
I have to say when I did check the results on May 6th, after putting it off for as long as I could, my heart sank, more than I was expecting, given the honest expectations of the outcome which I think were shared by most. The awful tragedy of such a close-run election (not in relative terms perhaps but 47-53 sounds fairly well proportioned to me) - 16,8 million people are dissappointed, are unhappy, are discontent, are afraid, are insensed at the result, all the way down the political spectrum.
In the aftermath, place de la bastille is burning, and the looks of absolute terror and dread in the eyes of some of he Segolene supporters make my blood run cold. Personally, I've been exile for about 2 weeks now. But what about them?
Millions upon millions of people who weren't convinced by this notion of swapping la "culture du partage" for the "culture de la croissance", the triumph of firmness over compassion, who felt uneasy about the appointment of a minister for "immigration & national identity", who saw through the scare-mongering, who questionned his blunt veto to Turkey, who were worried by an attitude to immigration that regards it as welcoming "toute la misere du monde" into the french territory, who anticipated the dangers of "zero tolerance" policy, and who questioned the threat of deconstruction of the social model (which sarko explicitly referred to when he asserted that people ought to be living off the products of their own work, not aids & benefits, because before we can distribute we need to create "la richesse" - absent in France, according to Sarko, when, as Olivier Besancenot frequently reminded us - there has never been so much wealth in France). What about us?
And what about the absolute scandal of people who don't even live in France being able to vote, while so many people who do and are directly affected are disenfranchised and unable to.
I deplore the people who voted for Sarko because they share in his vision of how to reform French society, but most of all I deplore the people who voted for him, despite twinges of fear, of unease, despite the alarm bells ringing at the back of their minds, because they told themselves "he won't be gouverning alone". Those who, it appears, are willing to let the country go up in flames, for whom the appeal of good firm leadership proved just too much to resist.
And I'm not saying the French haven't got a clue, on the contrary I think they're remarkably
well-informed, remarkably "conscious" politically, mobilised and rational, and I wouldn't insult the intelligence of the vast majority by insinuating that those who voted for Sarkozy aren't completely aware of what he stood for, down to the very fine details.
Sarkozy keeps claiming the French people have voted for change, for "la rupture", despite his party being the one that's been in power for the last 5 years. But this is entirely consistent with the general contradiction that has been running through his campaign right from the start, in his slogan as in some of his frequently offensive and bizarre statements. My personal favourite is his touching assertion that "People who beleive are people who hope".
Well M. Sarkozy, I'm no beleiver but I have, on occasion, been known to hope. I think the best we can hope for now, is that things will essentially stay the same.
I'll leave you with the sombre reactions of Liberation...
"There is great disappointment after so much fervour, so much passion and so much hope in renewal. France has made a clear choice... Nicolas Sarkozy is a legitimate president... The other France will seek compensation in the parliamentary election. In the meantime, sick at heart, it ponders defeat intent on hope in spite of it all... This setback should rouse the forces of
imagination and modernization, that bring together daring and reality. For its
part, Liberation embarks upon this task from today. The values of competition
have won the day but the values of solidarity and justice remain."
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