Sentinel
8th May 2017, 22:51
Thoughts on the french election results from the french section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT). See link for full article.
It was definitely the right call from the majority of Melenchons movement not to support a vote for the "lesser evil", who is in fact a very "big evil", a representative of the very forces of capitalism and austerity that have created the crisis that gave rise to Le Pen and other far right populists, and only promises more of the same.
As Melenchon pointed out after the elections, Le Pen in fact came third after the abstainees and blank voters in the election, and still lost - and now the movement of resistance can continue to be built without being tarnished by having backed the banker, who will now proceed to attack labour rights and the working class with extreme brutality.
http://www.marxist.com/images/cache/232121da4ec9f888de96fac57f786bd9_w640_h427.jpg
Photo: Mutualité-Française
The most chaotic presidential election of the Fifth Republic has just resulted in the election of a new head of state. At the end of the first round, the winner of the second was already known. Millions of left-wing voters reluctantly voted for Macron to defeat Marine Le Pen.
It must be said that none of the leaders of the left or the trade union leaders offered them a concrete alternative in terms of what to do faced with two right-wing candidates. Most of the left leaders simply called on the electorate to vote for En Marche's candidate, Macron! But he is not in a strong position, as his 20.7 million votes do not represent a homogenous bloc of support for his policies. Those who voted for Fillon, Macron, Hamon, and Mélenchon in the first round, and then went on to vote Macron in the second, round are a mix of left and right, devoid of clear class lines.
The result of the internal consultation of 'Rebellious France' last Tuesday, when the ranks were asked what position the movement should adopt in the second round, showed that the farce of the 'Republican front' is rejected by a growing number of young people and workers. The 65% of 'Rebellious France' activists who refused to support the idea of calling for a Macron vote in the second round sent out a strong signal. We do not fight the FN by calling for a vote for right-wing parties. A serious struggle against the FN involves mobilising the youth and the workers on a programme that breaks with capitalism, because it is precisely the crisis of this system that is feeding the FN vote. That, and also the inability of the left governments in the last twenty years to solve the problems of the masses. The left and the labour movement must reconnect with the ideas and the programme of a revolutionary transformation of society. We from Revolution defend these ideas and this programme.
http://www.marxist.com/france-the-banker-wins-now-rebellious-france-must-mobilise.htm
It was definitely the right call from the majority of Melenchons movement not to support a vote for the "lesser evil", who is in fact a very "big evil", a representative of the very forces of capitalism and austerity that have created the crisis that gave rise to Le Pen and other far right populists, and only promises more of the same.
As Melenchon pointed out after the elections, Le Pen in fact came third after the abstainees and blank voters in the election, and still lost - and now the movement of resistance can continue to be built without being tarnished by having backed the banker, who will now proceed to attack labour rights and the working class with extreme brutality.
http://www.marxist.com/images/cache/232121da4ec9f888de96fac57f786bd9_w640_h427.jpg
Photo: Mutualité-Française
The most chaotic presidential election of the Fifth Republic has just resulted in the election of a new head of state. At the end of the first round, the winner of the second was already known. Millions of left-wing voters reluctantly voted for Macron to defeat Marine Le Pen.
It must be said that none of the leaders of the left or the trade union leaders offered them a concrete alternative in terms of what to do faced with two right-wing candidates. Most of the left leaders simply called on the electorate to vote for En Marche's candidate, Macron! But he is not in a strong position, as his 20.7 million votes do not represent a homogenous bloc of support for his policies. Those who voted for Fillon, Macron, Hamon, and Mélenchon in the first round, and then went on to vote Macron in the second, round are a mix of left and right, devoid of clear class lines.
The result of the internal consultation of 'Rebellious France' last Tuesday, when the ranks were asked what position the movement should adopt in the second round, showed that the farce of the 'Republican front' is rejected by a growing number of young people and workers. The 65% of 'Rebellious France' activists who refused to support the idea of calling for a Macron vote in the second round sent out a strong signal. We do not fight the FN by calling for a vote for right-wing parties. A serious struggle against the FN involves mobilising the youth and the workers on a programme that breaks with capitalism, because it is precisely the crisis of this system that is feeding the FN vote. That, and also the inability of the left governments in the last twenty years to solve the problems of the masses. The left and the labour movement must reconnect with the ideas and the programme of a revolutionary transformation of society. We from Revolution defend these ideas and this programme.
http://www.marxist.com/france-the-banker-wins-now-rebellious-france-must-mobilise.htm