Of all Europeans, none are quite so good at making heard their dissatisfaction as the French. Where other nationalities seem defined by their ebullience, stoicism or serenity, in France crowds gather in the streets, go on strike, or even take up arms.
And though their ire no longer finds expression in the fall of the guillotine, public distaste is no less cutting when a general election comes around. This much is clear from the polarisation of yesterday's vote with two-thirds of the electorate voting hard right or left. The two centrist parties that have ruled modern France and its Cinquième République for over 60 years seem utterly trounced with neither scraping together more than 5% of the vote.
The push to the extremes also has Emmanuel Macron's neck on the block. Whilst the incumbent was busy building his image as leader of Europe, back home the clamour of discontent was growing with many denouncing the Macronie as another dictatorship to be toppled.
Certainly, the French premier did little to dispel his home image of an out of touch autocrat. Though it is difficult to deny the urgency of the European affairs that occupied the President, he should perhaps have been a little more attentive to his own back yard before devoting his energies to external issues. His minimal campaign and refusal to debate with other candidates left a fertile void for critics to portray him as indifferent to the concerns of citizens.
On this front, Macron's challengers made up ground with Le Pen toning down her far-right rhetoric to hone in on the dizzying costs of living. Indeed, with polemicist candidate Éric Zemmour positioning himself even further to the right, Le Pen was able to stake her claim as a voice of unity when her party's extreme policies – which include clamping down on immigration and tearing up climate commitments – are in fact highly contentious.
The big losers are the left, who yet again fail to have a candidate make it through to the second round of voting. Despite a late rally and endorsements from past opponents, Jean-Luc Mélenchon missed out on going head to head with Macron. This will leave much of the electorate in an uncomfortable position when ballot boxes open again in two weeks: unable to back Macron but impossible to vote Le Pen, a high proportion is expected to abstain from voting.
This raises important questions about the efficacy of democratic systems, but that's for another day.
Which way will it go? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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