French politics in disarray

Hollande has told his prime minister to form a new government after the economy minister made oblique criticisms of Hollande and his austerity policies. The president seems to me to have little idea of how to address the nation's problems, not least of which is that unemployment is running at nearly 11% and the economy doing little better than ticking over. He certainly is not a man to inspire the nation with free-thinking, bold ideas and he could hardly be described as a strong charismatic leader.

France needs a weak leader like it needs a hole in the head. With Hollande's popularity at a record low (even for him) and Sarkozy in a less than secure situation, the timing couldn't be better for the National Front to position itself for a run at government. It is anybody's guess what will happen at the next election in 2017 but it is easily within the bounds of possibility that the FN could form the next government of France. It scored nearly 25% in the European Parliament elections in 2014 and has 24 of France's allocated 74 seats. In the municipal elections the same year the FN won mayoralties in 12 cities. The jump from its current position to government is looking more and more achievable as each day goes by.

France needs a strong leader who is going to make firm, albeit unpopular, decisions and stick to them. I just can't see it happening.

We have a Nigel someone over here. Will he do ?????

Hi escapee
We've got enough problems over here but thanks all the same. We'll leave you to sort out Nigel whatshisname.

I've just planted Rapa Nui Nigel in my garden.

I think that the anti-foreigner sentiment, which has underpinned the rise in support for the FN, has come in part from French resentment that Germany is able to dictate French economic policies due to its relative economic strength among the Eurozone countries.

Not only is the rise of the FN bad news for us Brits, as we also risk being perceived as immigrants who dilute the French culture, but it is really bad news for all those who love liberty. Scratch the surface of FN policies and you find that they are pretty Stalinist (fascist, totalitarian, whatever you like to call it) and they would send France even further down the road of becoming a 'command and control' state.

A horrible prospect, which I wonder if those who vote for them have really thought through?

peirol wrote:I think that the anti-foreigner sentiment, which has underpinned the rise in support for the FN, has come in part from French resentment that Germany is able to dictate French economic policies due to its relative economic strength among the Eurozone countries.

Hi Peirol. That may be partly the case nowadays but I remember having conversations with my neighbours & their friends in another part of France several years ago. The malaises of France, according to them, were all due to arabs, blacks, Algerians etc etc and such comments were made without the barest hint of embarrassment. These conversations made me distinctly uneasy.

peirol wrote:Not only is the rise of the FN bad news for us Brits, as we also risk being perceived as immigrants who dilute the French culture, but it is really bad news for all those who love liberty. Scratch the surface of FN policies and you find that they are pretty Stalinist (fascist, totalitarian, whatever you like to call it) and they would send France even further down the road of becoming a 'command and control' state.

A horrible prospect, which I wonder if those who vote for them have really thought through?

I suspect not……or rather, I sincerely hope not. If these people are truly voting for the FN in full knowledge of what they stand for (be that overt or covert), it is not alarmist to say that the implications are frightening.

Sounds like the same old rubbish the far right is shooting its mouth off about all over Europe, all ways blame the blacks,arabs,etc etc for your problems mainly caused by your own actions.Did not a little german fella with a tash do the same thing a while back?.
Simmo from the side line.

And just to make it all a little more bizarre and even more uncomfortable, the Guardian runs with an article about Marine Le Pen's increasing popularity. If there were an election right now, it wouldn't matter which leader was in opposition, the FN would top the poll. In a straight fight between Hollande and Le Pen in a second round play-off (an unlikely event in view of Hollande's historical unpopularity), Le Pen would form the next government. Starting to get worried yet?

Coupled with Le Pen's threat to pull out of Europe, it is not an easy time to be a "foreigner" in France.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/sep/08/le-pen-tops-presidential-poll-for-first-time-ever