"Speeches, sermons, programs would still be nothing but deception and
lies; the same jugglers would only come back to perform the same trick,
with the same game bag; they would form the first link in a new chain of
more furious reaction! On them, anathema and vengeance, if they ever
dared to reappear! Shame and pity on the imbecile crowd that would fall
into their nets again!"[...]*
Political scientists and media analysts are pleased with the latest
election: only about 40% of registered voters - that is, the canonical
citizens recognized by the republican and democratic selection - made
the political gesture of not voting. The parliamentary majority was
supposed to result from this surge between the two rounds of the
legislative elections. It is all relative; it is that of the New Popular
Front. For the dissolving Macron, it is a question of appointing a head
of government. But he warned, initially: there is no question of having
an Insoumis Prime Minister (the French language is well made). For his
part, the ineffable Mélenchon says the opposite. The suspense lasts.
Lasts. Lasts and tires...
Brief chronological reminder:
On the first day, Macron dissolved the National Assembly.
On the second day, Renaissance, caught between two fronts, planned, like
Samson, to knock down the columns of the temple on them. Failed, the
Prime Minister would not be "René".
On the third day and those that followed, it was a nameless mess that
shook the hemicycle.
Of good constitution
As is customary, the new Prime Minister should come from the New Popular
Front (NFP), the majority party with 193 seats (compared to 143 deputies
for the National Rally and 165 for Macronie). As required by the customs
of the Fifth Republic, the incumbent Prime Minister, Attal, hands in his
resignation to the President of the Republic, Macron in this case,
who... refuses it outright! A scandal for "the" (1) extremes, NFP and RN.
Except that there are a few details that should not be overlooked on the
substance, when it comes to power and political stakes. Did Macron know
this - he is originally a banker - or did one or other of his advisors
suggest it to him? The Constitution of the Gaullist Fifth Republic gives
the bigwig President free rein on this subject: nothing obliges him to
appoint a Prime Minister from the legislative majority. Furthermore, no
time limit is imposed. Article 8 of the Constitution (does not) say
(that): The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister. He
terminates his functions upon the latter's submission of the
Government's resignation. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he
appoints the other members of the Government and terminates their
functions. (2) Full stop.
If Bardella is almost relieved - he was mainly aiming for the
(successful) European stage and had nothing but bodyguards to build a
government - Mélenchon is furious, the whole NFP is furious!
The New Popular Front: a French composition
How to say? The NFP is... complex. Sometimes people lyrically argue:
"the ethical greatness of a left that wants to govern is to be aware
that we are governing with people with whom, precisely, we do not
completely agree" (3) says learnedly Raquel Garrido, LFI MP. Everything
is in the euphemistic "completely"...
The NFP was born from the historical desire to confront fascism, this
time "within cannon range of the National Assembly" according to Yannick
Jadot of the Ecologists.
Previously, there was the New Ecological and Social Popular Union
(Nupes). It was a coalition of left-wing parties resulting from the
defeat in the 2022 presidential election. The reason: no left-wing
candidate in the second round. Damn! Objective: to win the following
legislative elections.
Not bad! No absolute majority but Nupes is the first parliamentary
opposition group.
Then come the senatorial elections. LFI, the center of gravity of the
"new union" is overtaken by the PS, the PCF and EELV who are
constituting lists behind its back. The pretext? The center of gravity
does not hold a region, a department or even a large city; Les Insoumis
have no legitimacy in their eyes to play the leaders. Then follow the
unwavering disagreements on foreign policy: Putin in Ukraine, Hamas,
Bolivarian connections... LFI, through the thunderous voice of
Mélenchon, dissonates too much with those of the "comrades" and, in the
European elections of 2024: the alliance is over, everyone goes for
their own chapel. Result: Crash! The RN is declared the clear winner.
More seriously, its 30 delegates are the first component of the
political group Patriots for (sic) Europe , alongside Viktor Orbán's
Fidesz, the FPÖ of the Austrian Herbert Kickl or the Vlaams Belang of
Flemish Belgium among others. A whole bunch of identitarians, xenophobes
and... "Eurosceptics"! The EPP(4) is the third group in the European
Parliament, and Bardella is its President; Orbán is the President for
six months - it was conveniently his turn - of the Council of the
European Union...
Not one, not two! Between June 10 and 13, the French left created an
unprecedented alliance: the New Popular Front. Nothing to do with the
Nupes, the objective: to win the 2024 legislative elections.
Phew! With 193 votes, the NFP is the first parliamentary group, ahead of
Renaissance and the RN. But far from repainting a hemicycle in a
gradient from pinkish to red, it would have needed 90 more seats -
folding seats would have been enough...
We absolutely must do something about the relative majority!
But what? Propose a Prime Minister!
But who? Not all at the same time please!
It's a race to the bottom; Mélenchon has decided according to the
objective of his coalition: it will be him. The patchwork of the left,
in a great demonstration of democracy, had announced a result of
"debates" for July 14 (Festival of the Federation requires!).
Postponed... to the 18th. On the 18th, Faure, supported by his PS
revived by a 110% increase in its legislative staff - elected including
by his worst intimate enemies of the moment - proposes to appoint
Laurence Tubiana (former advisor to... Jospin!). The latter, a diplomat
by profession, subtly winks at Mélenchon, aiming to "snatch social
measures", notably on hardship in the pension reform. Alas! the
coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, breaks the house down by saying that
Tubiana would "bring the Macronists back in through the window". Faced
with an obvious rejection of her candidacy, she threw in the towel on
July 22. As for Huguette Bello, PLR(5) President of La Réunion, it was
LFI and the PCF who pushed her to run for the Prime Minister. Huguette
Bello is emblematic of what the NPF is, of what Nupes was. She knows all
the opportunisms on which a left naturally based on its rivalries (at
best!) tries to surf, and... it's the cup. Bello is nevertheless a
good-natured person. She comes from the Communist Group in the Assembly
and supported Hollande in 2012. She sponsored Mélenchon in the
presidential elections of 2017 and 2022. She is present on the LFI-Union
populaire list in the famous European elections of 2024. In short, "she
is credible" according to the expert Marine Tondelier whose party in
agglomeration (Europe Écologie/Les Verts) navigates by sight, and
without waves, in the unitary swamp. Moreover, she is someone, she
specifies "who knows Parliament, who has the capacity to build a
majority" and who "is used to exchanging with Emmanuel Macron". What
does that mean, even the so-called leftists of the PC have their entries
to the Elysée? But others, in the PS, whisper a more conspiratorial
version. The PC subtly slipped Huguette Bello's name into the debates to
save its group in the Assembly thanks to the reinforcement of Réunion
deputies.
This story is the bush that hides the tundra.
Because for the moment, it is a new disunity that is emerging. Manuel
Bompard squarely trashes Olivier Faure: "for seven days, he has
expressed total opposition to all proposals that are made other than
those that come from the Socialist Party and in this case his own." And
he drives the point home: "there are a number of positions on the
Socialist Party side to say that ultimately, what should be done is to
start giving up on the program of the new Popular Front to try to find a
sort of majority with sectors that come from Macronism."(6) Even more
serious: in March 2024, the community, chaired by Huguette Bello, was
ordered to compensate 18 agents "whose fixed-term contracts had not been
renewed" in order to hire people close to the majority in their place!(7)
So that was it... There-is-a-traitor-among-us! Right away the slanderous
insinuations. It's not as if, during the 2017 legislative elections,
twenty-two Socialist deputies(8) had joined En Marche !
Aware of the unease, Bompard proposes to let the appointment of the
Prime Minister rest and to concentrate on another non-negligible issue:
the Presidency of the National Assembly ( See box ). This is what the PS
deplores by indicating in a press release of July 15: "On the one hand,
we wish to indicate that there has never been any desire for any
systematic veto on the part of the Socialist Party to any candidacy from
the New Popular Front. We have expressed disagreement on one candidacy,
as others have expressed their disagreement on other candidacies. This
is the democratic functioning of a union that respects each of its
components. On the other hand, we have, like the others, made several
proposals, to move towards a consensual choice." Good.
The fight continues
After the comical exchange of words in the chamber to designate the big
and small leaders, the NFP is re-energized as it approaches the logical
nomination of a Prime Minister from its ranks. The goal is also to
counter Macron's inertia; it is true that the latter had not accustomed
anyone, including and especially his own people, to such a stand-bye.
However, it was enough to listen to him; his choice will fall within the
only spectrum perceptible to his eyes: neither infrared nor verdigris -
no LFI nor PCF, no RN. Is this why the New Popular Front ultimately
decided to propose Lucie Castets? "She is someone who is very solid,
very credible and who has managed to bring the four forces of the New
Popular Front together around her name" assures (definitely!) Marine
Tondelier on France-TV. Choice negotiated in just sixteen days and on
the third try, we might add.
Macron, for his part, dismisses Lucie Castets disdainfully. However, the
lady has many qualities - preservation of public services, hunting down
financial crime, etc. - and fits perfectly with the idea of a technical
Prime Minister(9) that he is beginning to consider, in the absence of an
agreement with LR and the centrists to form a majority. But,
conveniently, there is this procedural story according to which Castets,
a senior civil servant at Paris City Hall, should have taken leave,
rather than taking leave,(10) which is a blow to LR in a last stand,...
And also the "affair" of the red triangle of Bompard(11)...
And so on and so forth...
In the absence of a real political confrontation, we find ourselves
nitpicking as much as we can.
Macron, in Olympic form, thinks out loud about a baroque majority group
in the Assembly ranging from the remains of the "classic" right - but
which one? They all hate each other! - that he took care to pulverize,
to the socialist party of Olivier Faure. Which is accused by Jean-Luc
Mélenchon and Manuel Bompard of letting itself be tempted.
The circle is complete, one thinks... Well no! After a week, it is an
LFI executive, Éric Coquerel, who shoots Lucie Castets on a story of the
historical infeasibility of recovering taxes from "tax expatriates".(12)
Nothing is going well, and it is becoming more and more obvious.
The green wire on the red wire...
The intoxication of the success of Olivier Faure and the PS, confronted
with the authoritarianism of Mélenchon, is already in itself a failure
of the "front" that many interested parties in the working classes are
not unaware of.
The NFP's "common" program, from which Bompard accuses Faure of
deviating in order to set a course for the steps of Macronie but which
Tondelier assures that it remains "the compass" of Castets, deserves a
little attention. Beyond the form, the "packaging" studied to seduce the
diversity of its electorate (a large coalition of the modern left), it
is a mishmash of pieces of different puzzles, obviously impossible to
assemble except by trimming the edges and redoing the pattern, each
wanting to impose its original model.
It is not a question of dwelling on the odds and ends of the so-called
common program, it is not.
Everything opposes the "partners" of this political imposture.
The components are pitting themselves against each other mercilessly to
secure the supreme office of Prime Minister. Under the Fifth Republic,
it is a stepping stone to the throne. Even within the parties, the
debate is a fistfight. Thus, "the Socialist Party has gone, in a few
weeks, from a Glucksmann line to a Mélenchon line. By adopting this
position, it has favoured five-cushion billiard shots rather than really
seeking a solution to get the country out of the rut," says Hélène
Geoffroy, a former minister in Le Monde en ligne on 26 July. She is a
declared opponent of Olivier Faure within the PS. A rival for the
leadership of the PS, during the internal campaign she had denounced
Faure's "lack of internal democracy", a "lack of work and ideological
reflection" and an unclear political line that pushed him to ally
himself with the environmentalists before brutally breaking ties. A good
comrade, she now supports him within the NFP. So much for "ideology" and
internal democracy.
The same Hélène Geoffroy finally asks a real question: "We wanted to put
a name before asking ourselves what we want to do. Govern or just obtain
the resignation of the President of the Republic? This is a government
that our country needs. The French want answers to their daily
difficulties..." François Ruffin, who broke with Mélenchon, had already
given the answer in Le Figaro: "the left, what a nullity![...]They were
useless for two years, they were useless during the six months of the
European campaign where we had a left in tatters, morale in our socks
because they each went their own way: Communist Party, Socialist Party,
France Insoumise, the Ecologists", "they like to lose, it's the choice
of defeat, they don't want to win, they don't want to govern."
The Union is making a joke
The New Popular Front is a monument of bad faith, an opportunistic
grunt, an intellectual and political scam. The NFP is as similar as two
drops of gasoline to everything that the Yellow Vests wanted to get rid
of; from the point of view of its ambitions, it has nothing to reproach
its competitors for. Moreover, all the past, present and future "fronts"
are only rickety, ephemeral and above all misleading and clientelist
scaffoldings on their intentions of reforms, in terms of abolition or
reestablishment of laws, of imposing prohibitions and civic obligations
(inevitably) according to the news, or even for the most daring
referendums (or plebiscites?)... One of these rotten edifices erected by
a professional left, doomed, let's say it, to break its neck because of
their bogus alliances, calculations distorted by the mathematics of
reality, the petty ambitions of young wolves like embittered losers.
It is therefore not surprising that all the parties - with the notable
exception of the Communist Party - attended the Medef meeting "on the
sidelines" of the last elections. The latter gave them, according to the
portmanteau of the press, a Grand Oral on the compatibility of the
programs with its economic roadmap(13). While it is difficult to specify
what the candidates examined were able to defend, the pure acceptance of
this rule of the game clearly means that there is no question, for this
left, of freeing itself from capitalism but rather of accommodating
itself to it. Verdict, via Les Échos , of Patrick Martin, the head of
the Medef: political leaders must "get out of posturing and provocations
towards economic players". That is to say that the repeal of the pension
reform, for example, "would be a terrible signal to the financial
markets, but especially for the sustainability of our pay-as-you-go
system", the same for the ISF, etc.
Were they hoping to negotiate an agreement with the bosses, to obtain a
ticket to the upper echelons or was it a question of playing the
braggart in the style of "enemy of finance"? Betrayal or spectacle?
No candidate to lead the State can ignore the injunctions of the bosses,
the bankers, the rating agencies. However, nowhere in the program of the
"united left" can we see any frontal attack on capitalism. We can get
rid of NATO or the EU, but not of the market economy. Not as a
nation-state participating in all forms of exploitation of humans and
the world. Capitalism is a mafia system, we run a State - a branch - we
collaborate ipso facto . The working class, as in 1981, as much as in
1936, knows that the "common program" is a political scam, a screen for
the struggle of the apparatuses and the elites for power. The working
class is only the electoral livestock to whom we will only have to throw
two or three flagship measures at the beginning of the mandate, and pack
up a few minor things at the end. And promise to do everything else if
he is given back power. In the meantime, we can always encourage
(generously) companies to stay in France, and therefore adapt "work" in
this direction and, consequently, give back resources to the police to
"reconnect with the population".
We will have to take to the streets. Again.
All have betrayed the working class; all have officially removed the
class struggle from their statutes; all have abandoned the goal of an
emancipatory social revolution.
None of them care about it. All are afraid of it.
At best, they join the movements initiated by the rank and file of the
proletariat - workers, retirees, the unemployed, foreigners,
"eco-warriors" - and glean a few "popular sufferings" that they promise
to address in their programs. Loudly in opposition, less frankly once in
power. They will produce laws, stuck in the concepts of their class. The
denunciation of militant "violence" will become, will remain their credo
and their only response will be armed.
Not to conclude
The dissolution hastily pronounced by Macron has effects that he himself
clearly did not foresee. But the professional businessman has learned to
jump at any opportunity that could bring something; a certain enemy of
finance can testify to this. To himself, to his ideological caste -
always as indefinable as trickling liberalism - and to his class.
Capitalism has always adapted to any regime, whether or not there are
tanks on the Champs Élysées.(14) Industrialists, bankers, and traders in
everything and anything - to be taken literally - have always profited
from the wars and peaces that they start and negotiate respectively at
the right time. And all regimes have bowed to capitalism. Whether they
are in the luggage of official state trips, lobbying behind the columns
of the Palais Bourbon or sharing out the markets for territorial offers,
the worlds of liberal economics and professional politics are like
thirties and shirts. Power, the State, the government and its leader are
only the political relays, subservient or by pragmatism, of capital. If
the pretenders to the gold of the Republic are divided among themselves,
it is only a question of Ego. Let a Caesar come and all the allegiances,
compromises, betrayals, will be done behind the scenes and the
"democratic" game will resume in the Assembly.
Finally, at this time, we can make two observations. One: with a
government reduced to a figurehead, everything works "normally" -
Belgium has been without a government for a year and a half -; two: the
daily life of the working classes remains.
While politicking is in the background, preferably that of the Olympic
Games, employees continue to fight; exploitation is uninterrupted,
injustices do not weaken, control is permanent.
The road to emancipation remains long, difficult and violent. We will
have to overcome the tragicomic spectacle of the political class
competing for our domination. Very quickly, very strongly.
[...]"In the presence of armed proletarians, obstacles, resistances,
impossibilities, everything will disappear.
But, for the proletarians who let themselves be amused by ridiculous
walks in the streets, by planting trees of liberty, by sonorous phrases
of lawyers, there will be holy water first, insults then, finally
machine guns, misery always!
Let the people choose!"*
Boulogne sur Mer on August 8, 2024
* Auguste Blanqui, A Toast to the Next Revolution , Belle-Isle-en-Mer
Prison, February 10, 1851. Published by " the friends of Equality. "
**Thanks to Gérard from the site https://spartacusbond.blogspot.com for
his very successful illustration that we have taken.
1. If we consider the RN from a political and historical point of view
as ideologically and intrinsically of the extreme right, it is difficult
for us to identify an extreme left in the NFP, if only by the
composition of the respective gondola heads of the parties that compose it.
2. Source:
https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/sites/default/files/as/root/bank_mm/constitution/constitution.pdf
3. Listen to them all! on Huff: How the left justifies its alliance
formed in record time - Dailymotion video
4. Details on: Patriots for Europe - Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) See the
"composition" section. Almost funny!
5. For La Réunion: a split in the PCR - the Réunion Communist Party -
from which she was thrown out, following her refusal to parachute into a
constituency other than her own during the 2012 legislative elections;
strategic move decided by the local polit' bureau.
6. Source: NFP: negotiations continue but the deadlock persists, still
no name for a Prime Minister | News
7. In La Réunion, the regional council sanctioned after recruiting
people close to the majority (lemonde.fr)
8. Including Brigitte Bourguignon - who is from the magazine and
Boulogne! She will even be a delegate minister.
9. A First Secretary who would manage ad libitum current affairs, all
current affairs, nothing but current affairs?
10. See (or not) the Canard enchaîné of July 31, "Castets de gondole" p.2
11. 2024 legislative elections: Manuel Bompard explains why he wore a
red triangle during the debate (huffingtonpost.fr)
12. Source: Le Canard enchaîné of August 7, 2024
13. See 15727-propositions-medef-elections-europe-ennes-2024-light.p.
14. In 1981, the right had brandished the threat of seeing Russian tanks
parade on the Champs Élysées in the event of a victory by Mitterrand and
the united left (yes!). Finally, it was Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor,
liberal and conservative Christian Democrat, who gravely accompanied
Mitterrand in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de
Triomphe, a masterful act of an endless friendship...
Frogging at the National Assembly
We are amused to watch the wanderings, the elevator stories and the
direct trips that the "representatives of the people" furiously send
each other. Some have even come close to coming to blows.
First round: the election to the "perch"
This time, Olivier Faure is playing it collectively. There is no doubt
that the NFP will unite behind "a single candidate for the perch, a
single name for the first round". That of the communist André
Chassaigne. Beaten by 13 votes by Yaël Braun-Pivet who was putting her
title on the line. And for once, Mélenchon is choking that "A red line
has been crossed with the illicit vote of ministers". Indeed, the
question arises. Understanding that ministers still in office, even if
reduced to the state of houseplants, cannot vote as deputies.
Second round: the key positions
Two vice-presidencies out of six, one quaestorship out of three, and
nine secretaries out of 12! The night of Friday 19 to Saturday 20 July
will be marked by a white stone for the New Popular Front. "We obtain
the majority of positions (in the office), it is the demonstration that
the NFP is the largest pole in the National Assembly" comments Mathilde
Panot (LFI). A reason to demand from Macron a Prime Minister from its
ranks. We know the rest. But the devil is in the details; the NFP, by
holding several key positions, has a decision-making power of capital
importance; a weapon that should be used in the legislative apparatus.
Last round: the back kitchen
The distribution of positions has triggered a crisis, in the literal
sense, within the hemicycle.
First, warm-up: ballot stuffing! As our "observers" note in
dictatorships of all kinds. The appearance of ten extra envelopes in the
ballot boxes forced the cancellation of a vote. And the PS deputy Jérôme
Guedj called for an investigation and a review of the voting procedures.
Then, the rules of the Assembly recommend an equitable distribution of
groups within this collegiate body, which is the main decision-making
body of the National Assembly. This time, the Ensemble pour la
République group - Macronian chaired by Attal, who therefore had the
right to vote - had decided on Monday not to put any ballot papers
"neither for the RN nor for LFI". Macron returned the favor to his
allies of the Republican Right who also obtained several key positions,
the price of their support for the candidacy of Yaël Braun-Pivet. And
nothing for the RN!
The PS deputy Arthur Delaporte on the contrary welcomed "the victory of
the Republican barrier" against the far-right party. This good boy did
not understand anything about the tactical organization of the
Macronists to keep an indispensable part of the right in the Assembly.
Marine Le Pen, who knows her stuff, especially in the European
Parliament, understood everything well and denounced "schemes" and "job
purchases" that "trample democracy underfoot", That's saying something!
It is reassuring to know that these people represent us, decide what is
good and what is bad, and impose laws. In the event of failure, we are
beaten, judged, made to pay (as much as possible) and locked up... in
our own name.
Source: Early legislative elections: Medef denounces the proposals of
"some", pointing out the projects of the RN and LFI (latribune.fr) with AFP
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4241
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
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lies; the same jugglers would only come back to perform the same trick,
with the same game bag; they would form the first link in a new chain of
more furious reaction! On them, anathema and vengeance, if they ever
dared to reappear! Shame and pity on the imbecile crowd that would fall
into their nets again!"[...]*
Political scientists and media analysts are pleased with the latest
election: only about 40% of registered voters - that is, the canonical
citizens recognized by the republican and democratic selection - made
the political gesture of not voting. The parliamentary majority was
supposed to result from this surge between the two rounds of the
legislative elections. It is all relative; it is that of the New Popular
Front. For the dissolving Macron, it is a question of appointing a head
of government. But he warned, initially: there is no question of having
an Insoumis Prime Minister (the French language is well made). For his
part, the ineffable Mélenchon says the opposite. The suspense lasts.
Lasts. Lasts and tires...
Brief chronological reminder:
On the first day, Macron dissolved the National Assembly.
On the second day, Renaissance, caught between two fronts, planned, like
Samson, to knock down the columns of the temple on them. Failed, the
Prime Minister would not be "René".
On the third day and those that followed, it was a nameless mess that
shook the hemicycle.
Of good constitution
As is customary, the new Prime Minister should come from the New Popular
Front (NFP), the majority party with 193 seats (compared to 143 deputies
for the National Rally and 165 for Macronie). As required by the customs
of the Fifth Republic, the incumbent Prime Minister, Attal, hands in his
resignation to the President of the Republic, Macron in this case,
who... refuses it outright! A scandal for "the" (1) extremes, NFP and RN.
Except that there are a few details that should not be overlooked on the
substance, when it comes to power and political stakes. Did Macron know
this - he is originally a banker - or did one or other of his advisors
suggest it to him? The Constitution of the Gaullist Fifth Republic gives
the bigwig President free rein on this subject: nothing obliges him to
appoint a Prime Minister from the legislative majority. Furthermore, no
time limit is imposed. Article 8 of the Constitution (does not) say
(that): The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister. He
terminates his functions upon the latter's submission of the
Government's resignation. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he
appoints the other members of the Government and terminates their
functions. (2) Full stop.
If Bardella is almost relieved - he was mainly aiming for the
(successful) European stage and had nothing but bodyguards to build a
government - Mélenchon is furious, the whole NFP is furious!
The New Popular Front: a French composition
How to say? The NFP is... complex. Sometimes people lyrically argue:
"the ethical greatness of a left that wants to govern is to be aware
that we are governing with people with whom, precisely, we do not
completely agree" (3) says learnedly Raquel Garrido, LFI MP. Everything
is in the euphemistic "completely"...
The NFP was born from the historical desire to confront fascism, this
time "within cannon range of the National Assembly" according to Yannick
Jadot of the Ecologists.
Previously, there was the New Ecological and Social Popular Union
(Nupes). It was a coalition of left-wing parties resulting from the
defeat in the 2022 presidential election. The reason: no left-wing
candidate in the second round. Damn! Objective: to win the following
legislative elections.
Not bad! No absolute majority but Nupes is the first parliamentary
opposition group.
Then come the senatorial elections. LFI, the center of gravity of the
"new union" is overtaken by the PS, the PCF and EELV who are
constituting lists behind its back. The pretext? The center of gravity
does not hold a region, a department or even a large city; Les Insoumis
have no legitimacy in their eyes to play the leaders. Then follow the
unwavering disagreements on foreign policy: Putin in Ukraine, Hamas,
Bolivarian connections... LFI, through the thunderous voice of
Mélenchon, dissonates too much with those of the "comrades" and, in the
European elections of 2024: the alliance is over, everyone goes for
their own chapel. Result: Crash! The RN is declared the clear winner.
More seriously, its 30 delegates are the first component of the
political group Patriots for (sic) Europe , alongside Viktor Orbán's
Fidesz, the FPÖ of the Austrian Herbert Kickl or the Vlaams Belang of
Flemish Belgium among others. A whole bunch of identitarians, xenophobes
and... "Eurosceptics"! The EPP(4) is the third group in the European
Parliament, and Bardella is its President; Orbán is the President for
six months - it was conveniently his turn - of the Council of the
European Union...
Not one, not two! Between June 10 and 13, the French left created an
unprecedented alliance: the New Popular Front. Nothing to do with the
Nupes, the objective: to win the 2024 legislative elections.
Phew! With 193 votes, the NFP is the first parliamentary group, ahead of
Renaissance and the RN. But far from repainting a hemicycle in a
gradient from pinkish to red, it would have needed 90 more seats -
folding seats would have been enough...
We absolutely must do something about the relative majority!
But what? Propose a Prime Minister!
But who? Not all at the same time please!
It's a race to the bottom; Mélenchon has decided according to the
objective of his coalition: it will be him. The patchwork of the left,
in a great demonstration of democracy, had announced a result of
"debates" for July 14 (Festival of the Federation requires!).
Postponed... to the 18th. On the 18th, Faure, supported by his PS
revived by a 110% increase in its legislative staff - elected including
by his worst intimate enemies of the moment - proposes to appoint
Laurence Tubiana (former advisor to... Jospin!). The latter, a diplomat
by profession, subtly winks at Mélenchon, aiming to "snatch social
measures", notably on hardship in the pension reform. Alas! the
coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, breaks the house down by saying that
Tubiana would "bring the Macronists back in through the window". Faced
with an obvious rejection of her candidacy, she threw in the towel on
July 22. As for Huguette Bello, PLR(5) President of La Réunion, it was
LFI and the PCF who pushed her to run for the Prime Minister. Huguette
Bello is emblematic of what the NPF is, of what Nupes was. She knows all
the opportunisms on which a left naturally based on its rivalries (at
best!) tries to surf, and... it's the cup. Bello is nevertheless a
good-natured person. She comes from the Communist Group in the Assembly
and supported Hollande in 2012. She sponsored Mélenchon in the
presidential elections of 2017 and 2022. She is present on the LFI-Union
populaire list in the famous European elections of 2024. In short, "she
is credible" according to the expert Marine Tondelier whose party in
agglomeration (Europe Écologie/Les Verts) navigates by sight, and
without waves, in the unitary swamp. Moreover, she is someone, she
specifies "who knows Parliament, who has the capacity to build a
majority" and who "is used to exchanging with Emmanuel Macron". What
does that mean, even the so-called leftists of the PC have their entries
to the Elysée? But others, in the PS, whisper a more conspiratorial
version. The PC subtly slipped Huguette Bello's name into the debates to
save its group in the Assembly thanks to the reinforcement of Réunion
deputies.
This story is the bush that hides the tundra.
Because for the moment, it is a new disunity that is emerging. Manuel
Bompard squarely trashes Olivier Faure: "for seven days, he has
expressed total opposition to all proposals that are made other than
those that come from the Socialist Party and in this case his own." And
he drives the point home: "there are a number of positions on the
Socialist Party side to say that ultimately, what should be done is to
start giving up on the program of the new Popular Front to try to find a
sort of majority with sectors that come from Macronism."(6) Even more
serious: in March 2024, the community, chaired by Huguette Bello, was
ordered to compensate 18 agents "whose fixed-term contracts had not been
renewed" in order to hire people close to the majority in their place!(7)
So that was it... There-is-a-traitor-among-us! Right away the slanderous
insinuations. It's not as if, during the 2017 legislative elections,
twenty-two Socialist deputies(8) had joined En Marche !
Aware of the unease, Bompard proposes to let the appointment of the
Prime Minister rest and to concentrate on another non-negligible issue:
the Presidency of the National Assembly ( See box ). This is what the PS
deplores by indicating in a press release of July 15: "On the one hand,
we wish to indicate that there has never been any desire for any
systematic veto on the part of the Socialist Party to any candidacy from
the New Popular Front. We have expressed disagreement on one candidacy,
as others have expressed their disagreement on other candidacies. This
is the democratic functioning of a union that respects each of its
components. On the other hand, we have, like the others, made several
proposals, to move towards a consensual choice." Good.
The fight continues
After the comical exchange of words in the chamber to designate the big
and small leaders, the NFP is re-energized as it approaches the logical
nomination of a Prime Minister from its ranks. The goal is also to
counter Macron's inertia; it is true that the latter had not accustomed
anyone, including and especially his own people, to such a stand-bye.
However, it was enough to listen to him; his choice will fall within the
only spectrum perceptible to his eyes: neither infrared nor verdigris -
no LFI nor PCF, no RN. Is this why the New Popular Front ultimately
decided to propose Lucie Castets? "She is someone who is very solid,
very credible and who has managed to bring the four forces of the New
Popular Front together around her name" assures (definitely!) Marine
Tondelier on France-TV. Choice negotiated in just sixteen days and on
the third try, we might add.
Macron, for his part, dismisses Lucie Castets disdainfully. However, the
lady has many qualities - preservation of public services, hunting down
financial crime, etc. - and fits perfectly with the idea of a technical
Prime Minister(9) that he is beginning to consider, in the absence of an
agreement with LR and the centrists to form a majority. But,
conveniently, there is this procedural story according to which Castets,
a senior civil servant at Paris City Hall, should have taken leave,
rather than taking leave,(10) which is a blow to LR in a last stand,...
And also the "affair" of the red triangle of Bompard(11)...
And so on and so forth...
In the absence of a real political confrontation, we find ourselves
nitpicking as much as we can.
Macron, in Olympic form, thinks out loud about a baroque majority group
in the Assembly ranging from the remains of the "classic" right - but
which one? They all hate each other! - that he took care to pulverize,
to the socialist party of Olivier Faure. Which is accused by Jean-Luc
Mélenchon and Manuel Bompard of letting itself be tempted.
The circle is complete, one thinks... Well no! After a week, it is an
LFI executive, Éric Coquerel, who shoots Lucie Castets on a story of the
historical infeasibility of recovering taxes from "tax expatriates".(12)
Nothing is going well, and it is becoming more and more obvious.
The green wire on the red wire...
The intoxication of the success of Olivier Faure and the PS, confronted
with the authoritarianism of Mélenchon, is already in itself a failure
of the "front" that many interested parties in the working classes are
not unaware of.
The NFP's "common" program, from which Bompard accuses Faure of
deviating in order to set a course for the steps of Macronie but which
Tondelier assures that it remains "the compass" of Castets, deserves a
little attention. Beyond the form, the "packaging" studied to seduce the
diversity of its electorate (a large coalition of the modern left), it
is a mishmash of pieces of different puzzles, obviously impossible to
assemble except by trimming the edges and redoing the pattern, each
wanting to impose its original model.
It is not a question of dwelling on the odds and ends of the so-called
common program, it is not.
Everything opposes the "partners" of this political imposture.
The components are pitting themselves against each other mercilessly to
secure the supreme office of Prime Minister. Under the Fifth Republic,
it is a stepping stone to the throne. Even within the parties, the
debate is a fistfight. Thus, "the Socialist Party has gone, in a few
weeks, from a Glucksmann line to a Mélenchon line. By adopting this
position, it has favoured five-cushion billiard shots rather than really
seeking a solution to get the country out of the rut," says Hélène
Geoffroy, a former minister in Le Monde en ligne on 26 July. She is a
declared opponent of Olivier Faure within the PS. A rival for the
leadership of the PS, during the internal campaign she had denounced
Faure's "lack of internal democracy", a "lack of work and ideological
reflection" and an unclear political line that pushed him to ally
himself with the environmentalists before brutally breaking ties. A good
comrade, she now supports him within the NFP. So much for "ideology" and
internal democracy.
The same Hélène Geoffroy finally asks a real question: "We wanted to put
a name before asking ourselves what we want to do. Govern or just obtain
the resignation of the President of the Republic? This is a government
that our country needs. The French want answers to their daily
difficulties..." François Ruffin, who broke with Mélenchon, had already
given the answer in Le Figaro: "the left, what a nullity![...]They were
useless for two years, they were useless during the six months of the
European campaign where we had a left in tatters, morale in our socks
because they each went their own way: Communist Party, Socialist Party,
France Insoumise, the Ecologists", "they like to lose, it's the choice
of defeat, they don't want to win, they don't want to govern."
The Union is making a joke
The New Popular Front is a monument of bad faith, an opportunistic
grunt, an intellectual and political scam. The NFP is as similar as two
drops of gasoline to everything that the Yellow Vests wanted to get rid
of; from the point of view of its ambitions, it has nothing to reproach
its competitors for. Moreover, all the past, present and future "fronts"
are only rickety, ephemeral and above all misleading and clientelist
scaffoldings on their intentions of reforms, in terms of abolition or
reestablishment of laws, of imposing prohibitions and civic obligations
(inevitably) according to the news, or even for the most daring
referendums (or plebiscites?)... One of these rotten edifices erected by
a professional left, doomed, let's say it, to break its neck because of
their bogus alliances, calculations distorted by the mathematics of
reality, the petty ambitions of young wolves like embittered losers.
It is therefore not surprising that all the parties - with the notable
exception of the Communist Party - attended the Medef meeting "on the
sidelines" of the last elections. The latter gave them, according to the
portmanteau of the press, a Grand Oral on the compatibility of the
programs with its economic roadmap(13). While it is difficult to specify
what the candidates examined were able to defend, the pure acceptance of
this rule of the game clearly means that there is no question, for this
left, of freeing itself from capitalism but rather of accommodating
itself to it. Verdict, via Les Échos , of Patrick Martin, the head of
the Medef: political leaders must "get out of posturing and provocations
towards economic players". That is to say that the repeal of the pension
reform, for example, "would be a terrible signal to the financial
markets, but especially for the sustainability of our pay-as-you-go
system", the same for the ISF, etc.
Were they hoping to negotiate an agreement with the bosses, to obtain a
ticket to the upper echelons or was it a question of playing the
braggart in the style of "enemy of finance"? Betrayal or spectacle?
No candidate to lead the State can ignore the injunctions of the bosses,
the bankers, the rating agencies. However, nowhere in the program of the
"united left" can we see any frontal attack on capitalism. We can get
rid of NATO or the EU, but not of the market economy. Not as a
nation-state participating in all forms of exploitation of humans and
the world. Capitalism is a mafia system, we run a State - a branch - we
collaborate ipso facto . The working class, as in 1981, as much as in
1936, knows that the "common program" is a political scam, a screen for
the struggle of the apparatuses and the elites for power. The working
class is only the electoral livestock to whom we will only have to throw
two or three flagship measures at the beginning of the mandate, and pack
up a few minor things at the end. And promise to do everything else if
he is given back power. In the meantime, we can always encourage
(generously) companies to stay in France, and therefore adapt "work" in
this direction and, consequently, give back resources to the police to
"reconnect with the population".
We will have to take to the streets. Again.
All have betrayed the working class; all have officially removed the
class struggle from their statutes; all have abandoned the goal of an
emancipatory social revolution.
None of them care about it. All are afraid of it.
At best, they join the movements initiated by the rank and file of the
proletariat - workers, retirees, the unemployed, foreigners,
"eco-warriors" - and glean a few "popular sufferings" that they promise
to address in their programs. Loudly in opposition, less frankly once in
power. They will produce laws, stuck in the concepts of their class. The
denunciation of militant "violence" will become, will remain their credo
and their only response will be armed.
Not to conclude
The dissolution hastily pronounced by Macron has effects that he himself
clearly did not foresee. But the professional businessman has learned to
jump at any opportunity that could bring something; a certain enemy of
finance can testify to this. To himself, to his ideological caste -
always as indefinable as trickling liberalism - and to his class.
Capitalism has always adapted to any regime, whether or not there are
tanks on the Champs Élysées.(14) Industrialists, bankers, and traders in
everything and anything - to be taken literally - have always profited
from the wars and peaces that they start and negotiate respectively at
the right time. And all regimes have bowed to capitalism. Whether they
are in the luggage of official state trips, lobbying behind the columns
of the Palais Bourbon or sharing out the markets for territorial offers,
the worlds of liberal economics and professional politics are like
thirties and shirts. Power, the State, the government and its leader are
only the political relays, subservient or by pragmatism, of capital. If
the pretenders to the gold of the Republic are divided among themselves,
it is only a question of Ego. Let a Caesar come and all the allegiances,
compromises, betrayals, will be done behind the scenes and the
"democratic" game will resume in the Assembly.
Finally, at this time, we can make two observations. One: with a
government reduced to a figurehead, everything works "normally" -
Belgium has been without a government for a year and a half -; two: the
daily life of the working classes remains.
While politicking is in the background, preferably that of the Olympic
Games, employees continue to fight; exploitation is uninterrupted,
injustices do not weaken, control is permanent.
The road to emancipation remains long, difficult and violent. We will
have to overcome the tragicomic spectacle of the political class
competing for our domination. Very quickly, very strongly.
[...]"In the presence of armed proletarians, obstacles, resistances,
impossibilities, everything will disappear.
But, for the proletarians who let themselves be amused by ridiculous
walks in the streets, by planting trees of liberty, by sonorous phrases
of lawyers, there will be holy water first, insults then, finally
machine guns, misery always!
Let the people choose!"*
Boulogne sur Mer on August 8, 2024
* Auguste Blanqui, A Toast to the Next Revolution , Belle-Isle-en-Mer
Prison, February 10, 1851. Published by " the friends of Equality. "
**Thanks to Gérard from the site https://spartacusbond.blogspot.com for
his very successful illustration that we have taken.
1. If we consider the RN from a political and historical point of view
as ideologically and intrinsically of the extreme right, it is difficult
for us to identify an extreme left in the NFP, if only by the
composition of the respective gondola heads of the parties that compose it.
2. Source:
https://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/sites/default/files/as/root/bank_mm/constitution/constitution.pdf
3. Listen to them all! on Huff: How the left justifies its alliance
formed in record time - Dailymotion video
4. Details on: Patriots for Europe - Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) See the
"composition" section. Almost funny!
5. For La Réunion: a split in the PCR - the Réunion Communist Party -
from which she was thrown out, following her refusal to parachute into a
constituency other than her own during the 2012 legislative elections;
strategic move decided by the local polit' bureau.
6. Source: NFP: negotiations continue but the deadlock persists, still
no name for a Prime Minister | News
7. In La Réunion, the regional council sanctioned after recruiting
people close to the majority (lemonde.fr)
8. Including Brigitte Bourguignon - who is from the magazine and
Boulogne! She will even be a delegate minister.
9. A First Secretary who would manage ad libitum current affairs, all
current affairs, nothing but current affairs?
10. See (or not) the Canard enchaîné of July 31, "Castets de gondole" p.2
11. 2024 legislative elections: Manuel Bompard explains why he wore a
red triangle during the debate (huffingtonpost.fr)
12. Source: Le Canard enchaîné of August 7, 2024
13. See 15727-propositions-medef-elections-europe-ennes-2024-light.p.
14. In 1981, the right had brandished the threat of seeing Russian tanks
parade on the Champs Élysées in the event of a victory by Mitterrand and
the united left (yes!). Finally, it was Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor,
liberal and conservative Christian Democrat, who gravely accompanied
Mitterrand in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de
Triomphe, a masterful act of an endless friendship...
Frogging at the National Assembly
We are amused to watch the wanderings, the elevator stories and the
direct trips that the "representatives of the people" furiously send
each other. Some have even come close to coming to blows.
First round: the election to the "perch"
This time, Olivier Faure is playing it collectively. There is no doubt
that the NFP will unite behind "a single candidate for the perch, a
single name for the first round". That of the communist André
Chassaigne. Beaten by 13 votes by Yaël Braun-Pivet who was putting her
title on the line. And for once, Mélenchon is choking that "A red line
has been crossed with the illicit vote of ministers". Indeed, the
question arises. Understanding that ministers still in office, even if
reduced to the state of houseplants, cannot vote as deputies.
Second round: the key positions
Two vice-presidencies out of six, one quaestorship out of three, and
nine secretaries out of 12! The night of Friday 19 to Saturday 20 July
will be marked by a white stone for the New Popular Front. "We obtain
the majority of positions (in the office), it is the demonstration that
the NFP is the largest pole in the National Assembly" comments Mathilde
Panot (LFI). A reason to demand from Macron a Prime Minister from its
ranks. We know the rest. But the devil is in the details; the NFP, by
holding several key positions, has a decision-making power of capital
importance; a weapon that should be used in the legislative apparatus.
Last round: the back kitchen
The distribution of positions has triggered a crisis, in the literal
sense, within the hemicycle.
First, warm-up: ballot stuffing! As our "observers" note in
dictatorships of all kinds. The appearance of ten extra envelopes in the
ballot boxes forced the cancellation of a vote. And the PS deputy Jérôme
Guedj called for an investigation and a review of the voting procedures.
Then, the rules of the Assembly recommend an equitable distribution of
groups within this collegiate body, which is the main decision-making
body of the National Assembly. This time, the Ensemble pour la
République group - Macronian chaired by Attal, who therefore had the
right to vote - had decided on Monday not to put any ballot papers
"neither for the RN nor for LFI". Macron returned the favor to his
allies of the Republican Right who also obtained several key positions,
the price of their support for the candidacy of Yaël Braun-Pivet. And
nothing for the RN!
The PS deputy Arthur Delaporte on the contrary welcomed "the victory of
the Republican barrier" against the far-right party. This good boy did
not understand anything about the tactical organization of the
Macronists to keep an indispensable part of the right in the Assembly.
Marine Le Pen, who knows her stuff, especially in the European
Parliament, understood everything well and denounced "schemes" and "job
purchases" that "trample democracy underfoot", That's saying something!
It is reassuring to know that these people represent us, decide what is
good and what is bad, and impose laws. In the event of failure, we are
beaten, judged, made to pay (as much as possible) and locked up... in
our own name.
Source: Early legislative elections: Medef denounces the proposals of
"some", pointing out the projects of the RN and LFI (latribune.fr) with AFP
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4241
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
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