To nobody’s surprise, Jacques Chirac has been re-elected as President of France.
And, to the palpable relief of just about everyone, his margin of victory was such as to enable every pundit and politician to pronounce that the spectre of the ‘far right’ has been vanquished. I’m afraid I am not so persuaded.
Whilst le Pen himself has been defeated, the resentments and fears that temporarily elevated him have not and are highly likely to continue to fester and foment. For a lucid analysis of the reasons for the attractions of Radical Nationalism to the working class, I heartily commend this piece by Emmanuel Goldstein.
Whilst Chirac is, nominally at least, a man of the Right, his past record has often been characterised by a craven submission to left-wing ideals. His immediate and public acknowledgement of the part the socialists have played in re-electing him suggests that nothing will change.
Far from being chastened, the French left will be highly emboldened by this result. As far as they are concerned, it is they who put Chirac in power:
“”One can scarcely say that this is a victory for the right. It’s a victory for France,” said Serge Lepeltier, general secretary of Chirac’s Rally for the Republic (RPR) party.”
Already the BBC are attributing Le Pen’s defeat to the ‘street protests’ which were organised by the militant left. They are not going to let Chirac or France forget this and will demand a qui pro quo for their support which will mean that any ideas Chirac may have for deregulation or economic reform (assuming he has them in the first place) will have to be shelved and, again, he will be forced into a sclerotic coalition with the socialists.
At the age of 73, we have probably seen the last of Le Pen himself but let us not be fooled into thinking that we have seen the last of the Radical Nationalism he represents. How much more successful could it prove with a younger, fitter, smarter and more charismatic figure at the helm? In a country whose ossified political class promises ‘more of the same’, it can only be a matter of time before such a standard-bearer emerges.
