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European perspectives by Tausch, Arno 23 April 2002 05:51 UTC |
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French alarm rings bells for Europe's body politic Democratic politicians must share the blame for Le Pen's triumph Hugo Young Tuesday April 23, 2002 The Guardian If the first British republic were modelled on the fifth French republic, the electoral picture might look like this. The voting system would encourage the same fragmentation of politics. As well as Lab, Con and LD, we'd list the Greens, the BNP, the SWP, doubtless Real Labour, very possibly the old CP and, for sure, several regional parties. Five hundred official signatures would be enough to get a party on the ballot, and less than 20% of the vote would probably suffice to guarantee a place in the run-off. The political structure that has kept extremism at bay would be smashed. So the French election is a caution to both republicans and electoral reformers. Two lost causes anyway, but now blown over the horizon by a result that, as Liberation wrote yesterday, reduces France to a fight between the Superliar and the Superfascist. The system does offer the beginnings of an alibi for what happened. Taken together the votes of the left can be made to add up to 44%. In a two-man contest the socialist, Lionel Jospin, might even have won. You can put the fiasco down to the congenital inability of the left to unify in dangerous circumstances. On this analysis, there's no great political crisis, just the political system of the fifth republic that needs to be fixed. Moreover, isn't Jacques Chirac now certain to win anyway? Won't the forces of democracy bury their mutual hatreds to dig a deeper grave for the super-enemy of democracy, Jean-Marie Le Pen? So all is surely well? This would be a grand illusion, and hardly any French democrat now believes it. Le Pen is the first man of the far right to get within spitting distance of power in a major EU country. Two can play at adding up the votes, and Le Pen's along with those of his fellow fascist Bruno Mégreatly exceeded what Chirac got. Though Jospin's defeat produces a crisis for the left, Le Pen's victory registers an even bigger crisis for democratic politics in the round. A deep pattern of alienation from democracy is visible, of which France now offers the most shattering example, but from which not even calm, secure, Blairite Britain is exempt. Certainly there's a crisis on the left. Towards the end of the 1990s, most EU countries were run by social democrats, and now most of them are not. Italy, Spain, Austria, Denmark and Portugal have swung to the right. It remains to be seen what happens to Gerhard Schröder in the autumn. Meanwhile, continental socialists confront the sometimes painful irony that the British Labour government, only now reverting to a recognisably social democratic programme, stands almost alone as a leftist party of unchallengeable power. What matters about this rightward shift, however, is not its direction but its dependence in several cases on the far right. Centrist rightism is not much different from centrist leftism, as we see from the kinship between Blair and the Aznar government in Madrid. But the fascist tendency is eating its way into corners of real power, and the French experience suggests two main reasons for this frightening development, one particular and one general. The particular is perceived defects in "security", which is alternately a euphemism for crime and immigration, and often both. This was what Le Pen relentlessly played to, with the aid of Chirac who made it a main line of attack on Jospin, which Jospin in the end had to try to match. In this degeneration, it was the man with the simplest answers who scored the best, in a shameful display for which the democrats were almost as much to blame as the anti-democrat. But one cannot deny the potency of the attack on foreigners, and the quest thereby for some protection of "identity", especially given the presence of the second, more general factor: wholesale disaffection from the political system. In France this can be measured. As many as 40% of those who voted, about 60% of the electorate, rejected the only two parties that could form a government, Chirac's and Jospin's. This was double the figure at the 1988 and 1995 elections, a pretty staggering decline, but perhaps little more so than the fall in turnout at last year's British election from 71 to 59%. Protest was delivered in one case by impossibilist extremism, in the other by withdrawal, but each was a way of registering disgust at what mainline politics now apparently offers. The roots of this lie deeper than a government's performance. Jospin had a decent record as prime minister, running a not unsuccessful economy, bringing in the 35-hour week, presiding, Brown-like, over more quiet anti-socialist reform than he liked to admit. But governments these days face anomie, impatience, generalised discontent, which are less amenable than they once were to the recompense of doctrinal zeal, for the simple reason that it does not exist. Governments, easily charged with failure, lack any vision to make up for it. Most elections, like this one, are full of languor and anxious imitation, where any semblance of vision is replaced by meretricious showboating, of the kind for which Jospin had no talent. It's easier to see the wrong answer to this than the right one. Le Pen's answer is intolerable, and should not be graced for even a second with the knowing, if regretful, observation that he strikes a chord. He offers the pretence that there's an easy answer to the security problem, and a commanding alternative to the complexities in which ordinary leaders seem to be trapped. On both counts his programme is as vicious as it is misleading. There are no simple solutions to anything in these globalised days. The lure of the quasi-fascist answer, whether in France or Italy, deserves to be met with only one response: the re-energising of democratic politics, especially on the only wing that can be relied on to reject quasi-fascist solutions, which is to say the left. The body politic laid bare by Le Pen's success is Europe-wide. European, not just French, values are put in question; Europe as well as France faces the challenge of reaffirming progressive democratic answers to the problems of the age, including migration and social integration. Europe's credibility in the eyes of the world is on the line. Europe as well as France stands in desperate need of reconnecting political vigour with economic power, which I happen to believe can only be done properly on a Europe-wide scale - but that's another column. Britain, meanwhile, is protected from some of these manifestations by her electoral system. There will be no first republic, nor any PR at the heart of power. Even in Oldham and Bradford the forces of evil do not match those that brought Le Pen to the gates of the Elysée. But the problem of disengagement exists here as well as elsewhere in Europe. Extremism is kept at bay by the system, but the seeds of alienation are buried deep. The wake-up call for the French left is an alarm bell that rings round the continent and its archipelago. Sunkissed Provence is far-right heartland Le Pen gained best support in south and east Martin Kettle Tuesday April 23, 2002 The Guardian A summer in Provence will not have quite so much allure after Sunday's French presidential elections. For the sunkissed region whose rural charms are beguilingly depicted in Peter Mayle's bestselling books confirmed this weekend that it is the electoral engine room of Jean-Marie Le Pen's audacious challenge to overturn Jacques Chirac and the status quo. The department of Vaucluse, where the popular travel books are set, lies at the heart of the National Front leader's powerbase. Nearly one in four of its inhabitants voted for Mr Le Pen on Sunday. The nearby town of Orange - where 33% of the votes went to Mr Le Pen - emerged with the dubious distinction of being France's most pro-NF electorate. The electoral map of France showed that Mr Le Pen's success was not confined to the south. His shock second place behind Mr Chirac was built across the whole of eastern and southern France, with significant support in the north as well. Only in the west and Paris did the NF leader score poorly. Mr Le Pen's strongest showing came along the Mediterranean coast, where he carried six out of the seven coastal departments, forcing Mr Chirac into second place in every one. Mr Le Pen's best performance was in Alpes-Maritimes, centred on Nice and Cannes, where he took 26% In Marseille, France's largest Mediterranean city, Mr Le Pen captured 23.3%. Other towns where he polled heavily included Perpignan, Toulon and Nimes. The strong performance in the south was almost matched in the east. Mr Le Pen finished first in 15 of the 17 departments on France's eastern border, beaten by Mr Chirac in only two. His vote ranged from 26% in the south to 19% in the Nord department, centred on Lille and Dunkirk, with particularly strong support in Alsace and Lorraine. In Strasbourg, chief city of Alsace and home of the European parliament, Mr Le Pen topped the poll with 18%. He also came first in Calais, with 19%. President Chirac, by contrast, scored best in the west and in the area around Paris, the city of which he was mayor for so long. The defending president trounced his challenger in Mr Chirac's home area of Correze, where Mr Le Pen registered just 8.9%, his worst score in any of France's 95 departments. The NF leader's low score there was reflected in many parts of the Massif Central, Gascony and Brittany, and notably in Nantes, where his 9.8% was his worst in any city outside Paris, where Mr Le Pen scored just 9.4%. The Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin won just seven of the 95 departments on Sunday. Mr Jospin took the traditional Parisian "red belt" area of Seine-St Denis along with six departments in the extreme south-west near the Pyrenees. But that was little consolation for the worst first round showing by a Socialist candidate since Gaston Deferre in 1969. The NF's policies Immigration Give preference to French and European nationals in housing, jobs and social assistance, expel immigrants without proper papers, ban right of immigrants to bring families to France Law and order Hold referendum on restoring death penalty Europe Pull out of treaties of Maastricht, Schengen and Amsterdam,get rid of European commission, restore commercial borders to protect French products The family Restrict family allowances to French nationals France abroad Reject so-called new world order imposed by US within UN Right on the rise across continent An anti-immigrant current is sweeping EU Andrew Osborn in Brussels Monday April 22, 2002 The Guardian Jean-Marie Le Pen's success in the first round of the French presidential elections is far from being an isolated phenomenon. The right is on the rise across Europe and has already won power in capitals from Copenhagen to Lisbon. Although there are specific factors in individual countries, the broader picture is that its success has been fuelled by disenchantment with the performance of leftwing governments, which have been perceived as failing to deliver on their promises. There is also growing unease about immigration and a feeling that national sovereignty is being eroded by an ever-closer European union. In Denmark, a centre-right coalition underpinned by the ultra-right Danish People's party swept to power last November. It has drafted tough new asylum policies and cut aid to the developing world. In Portugal, a rightwing coalition which includes the fiercely anti-immigration Popular party, led by a crusading rightwing journalist and social conservative, Paulo Portas, won power last month. In Spain, Jose Maria Aznar won a second term in March 2000, crushing the socialist opposition and obtaining the first conservative majority since Spain became a democracy after the death of General Franco in 1975. In the Netherlands, a flamboyant anti-immigration gay politician called Pim Fortuyn is forecast to win up to 20% of the vote in next month's general election after becoming the biggest political force in Rotterdam in local elections. In Norway, an administration propped up by the far-right Progress party took office last October. The Progress party wants to cap immigration at 1,000 people a year. In Italy, the rightwing media magnate Silvio Berlusconi defied international criticism last June to win power. Umberto Bossi, leader of the xenophobic Northern League, and Gianfranco Fini, leader of the post-fascist National Alliance, hold key cabinet posts. In Belgium, the far-right Vlaams Blok party became the biggest political force in Antwerp in October 2000. It wants to repatriate all non-European foreigners. Europe braces for continental drift to right Politicians plan to fight voter apathy and xenophobia Ian Black, European editor Tuesday April 23, 2002 The Guardian Powerful aftershocks from France's electoral earthquake rippled across the continent as politicians agonised about the success of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who vowed yesterday to take his country out of the "Europe of Maastricht". Anguished voices on the left and centre-right took little comfort in knowing that the Eurosceptic National Front leader is unlikely to beat Jacques Chirac in the second round of the presidential race next month. Everywhere in Europe there was a strong sense that mainstream politicians would now have to address issues of polarisation, voter apathy and a swing to the right as radical parties exploit fears about crime and immigration. "I hope that all democratic powers will unite against rightwing extremism and xenophobia," said Sweden's Social Democrat prime minister, Goran Persson. Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, said that democrats thoughout Europe must strive to ensure that Le Pen did not gain any degree of power in France. "It's most regrettable that the far right has become so strong. That must be prevented." Other EU governments broke with their customary reticence about commenting on elections in other countries, with Tony Blair's official spokesman calling Sunday's startling outcome "very sad". Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader and vice-president of the European Commission, said he was "astounded and horrified" by the defeat of Lionel Jospin, the Socialist candidate. In Brussels, a spokesman for the commission said that it hoped France would remain faithful to the "fundamental values we all share and on which the union is based". Later, a triumphant Mr Le Pen, who opposed the 1992 Maastricht treaty on monetary union, turned his fire on the EU. "I am a partisan of a Europe of nations... of homelands," he insisted, "but I am a determined adversary of a supranational, federal, federalising Europe." British anti-euro campaigners warned of the dangers of forcing the pace of European integration at the expense of national democracy. "I am extremely worried by certain stances which might involve a racist or xenophobic element, but also by stances which run completely counter to the construction of Europe," said Josep Pique, foreign minister of Spain and holder of the EU presidency. Pat Cox, the Irish president of the European parliament, said: "A result where 30% of the electors abstained and 30% of those who took part voted for candidates of the extreme right or extreme left is likely to hold lessons not just for France but for the entire European political class." Reactions to the upset echoed and amplified what happened two years ago, when the far-right anti-immigrant Austrian politician Jörg Haider joined a conservative-led coalition and triggered sanctions by the rest of the EU. In Austria, the mass circulation newspaper, the Kronen Zeitung, reminded readers that France was among the EU countries that imposed sanctions on Austria in 2000 after Haider's Freedom party joined a government coalition. "Austrians remember the times when the mass media of Paris fell all over themselves calling Austria a hopeless Nazi-land," columnist Ernst Trost wrote. But France, beacon of human rights and a founder member of the European union, represents a bigger problem and a far louder wake-up call, especially as the National Front breakthrough follows successes by other far-right parties in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Denmark in recent months. Local circumstances differ widely, but most have included concerns about immigration, crime and unemployment against a background of resentment about globalisation, the loss of national identity and deeper European integration. The French left was widely blamed. "Le Pen collected protest votes but he is not an alternative," said Maurizio Gasparri, communications minister and member of Italy's post-fascist National Alliance. "I think the cause of this result is the collapse of the left which is heading for a eurodisaster - because wherever it rules it cannot find a synthesis: it's a ghost." Leszek Miller, Poland's Social Democrat prime minister, warned that Le Pen's strong showing posed a threat to the eastern enlargement of the EU. The Greek daily Ta Nea commented: "Europe freezes as fascism rises - the resurrection of the vampire." Mr Le Pen, who has infamously described the Nazi Holocaust as a "detail of history", was congratulated by the Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and by Filip Dewinter, leader of Belgium's far-right Vlaams Blok, which captured a third of the vote in Antwerp in 2000. "It's not surprising that French voters are moving to a far-right party," Mr Dewinter said. "They have the same problems of insecurity, of immigration and political corruption. It's the normal situation in Europe after Italy, Austria, Holland." The British National Party said: "France and Europe in general are under threat from very large numbers of non-Europeans. We're very pleased that throughout Europe there appears to be a movement to restore sanity." But in the Netherlands, where the anti-immigrant party of Pim Fortuyn is expected to take up to 20% of the votes in next month's general election, a spokesman rejected "insulting" comparisons with Le Pen. Newspapers everywhere gave extensive coverage to the story: "France in mourning," thundered the Belgian tabloid La Derniere Heure. Many commentators saw clear lessons for themselves. "We have to be careful in Germany that we don't get a development in which unpleasant rightist forces suddenly get too strong - if we, for example, allow too much unregulated immigration, which is why we want it limited, and if we don't fight crime, especially crime by foreigners," said Michael Glos, an ally of Edmund Stoiber, conservative challenger in Germany's September election. Schröder's party is defeated in local polls By Haig Simonian in Berlin Published: April 22 2002 20:20 | Last Updated: April 22 2002 20:22 Financial Times The shock of the results of France's presidential polls on Sunday was the coup de grace to a bad day for Germany's chancellor Gerhard Schröder, as his governing Social Democratic party suffered humiliation in regional polls in the eastern state of Saxony Anhalt. Although the defeat of Lionel Jospin, France's socialist prime minister, will not immediately affect Franco-German relations, the blow to the French left will affect the mood as Mr Schröder steps up his campaign for re-election in September. Rudolf von Thadden, the German government's co-ordinator for Franco-German relations, said: "The result won't be an encumbrance on day-to-day politics. But people will see the right is gaining ground and the left is shrinking, and that has consequences for Gerhard Schröder." There was little hiding the scale of the SPD's defeat. In the biggest swing in any German election, support for Mr Schröder's party slumped by nearly 16 percentage points to 20 per cent, while the opposition Christian Democrats' share climbed by 15 percentage points to 37.3 per cent. The CDU and the liberal Free Democrats, who surged back into the state parliament with a 13.3 per cent vote, will probably form the next government, replacing the SPD after eight years. Opposition leaders seized the result - the most important test of public opinion before September's general elections - as pointing to a national change of power. "This was a clear vote against the policies of Gerhard Schröder," said Edmund Stoiber, the conservative challenger for the chancellorship. "It is a signal that change is also possible federally," noted Angela Merkel, the CDU's leader. Top SPD officials tried to play down the defeat, noting the exceptionally low turnout and domination of local issues. "This is no prejudgement on what will be decided on September 22," said Franz Muntefering, the SPD's general secretary. But behind the scenes on Monday, the SPD was hinting at strategy adjustments. One such change was concentrating even more on Mr Schröder, the party's most popular politician. Although trailing the opposition, as a party, by up to 5 percentage points in the opinion polls, SPD officials have long stressed their leader's significantly higher personal popularity than Mr Stoiber. So a campaign already expected to be focused on the two candidates is now likely to become more personalised. In addition, the message from the SPD will be to drive home its achievements. With the economy dominating the campaign, party leaders yesterday gave a foretaste of what was to come. Seizing on leaks that Germany's six leading economic institutes would today raise growth forecasts for this year to 0.9 per cent, Mr Muntefering claimed the economy was visibly recovering. The revised strategy is full of risks. With little control over the pace of recovery, the SPD will be vulnerable to any disruptions in the tentative upswing. External risks, such as oil prices, or internal shocks, such as the threat of industrial action by the powerful I G Metall engineering union, would upset the party's plans. Focusing more on the chancellor also has its perils. A CDU-FDP coalition in Saxony Anhalt would give the opposition a majority in the Bundesrat, the upper parliamentary chamber, where Germany's federal states are represented. Five years ago, the SPD used a similar advantage to embarrass Chancellor Helmut Kohl's CDU-led government by constantly blocking its legislation. The disruptive power, this time, is more limited, as Mr Schröder has pushed through most of his reforms. But the opposition could maximise its hold over the Bundesrat to deflate the image of competence - one of the chancellor's biggest electoral assets.
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