World News: Macron’s Government Attempts to Demonize His Chief Challenger

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Monday, 03 April 2023 08:43

Written by Olivier Longhi

France's Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, has accused the political party The New Ecological and Social People's Union, (Le Nupes) of wanting to instigate a political and societal revolution comparable to that of the 1970s.

By advancing the thesis that the Nupes was embarking on the path of the ultra-left of the seventies, the Minister of the Interior takes the risk of committing several errors with various consequences. Explanations.

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And first of all a historical error because if the Nupes certainly calls for a revolution, it wants to be citizen and peaceful, the opposite of the one that was demanded by the ultra-left groups of the years of lead that bloodied Western Europe. The second error lies in the assessment of the resources deployed by La Nupes.

To date, there is nothing to suggest that the Insoumise and their allies are fomenting any rebellion likely to overthrow the Republic, as implicitly suggested by the Minister of the Interior. The statement, rightly advanced, has a simple objective: to demonize Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party in order to isolate it politically by accusing it of wanting to throw the country into chaos.

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Conflation and Excessive Conservatism

In terms of consequences, the first is already to highlight a certain lack of culture and ignorance of contemporary history. The latter, certainly rightly manipulated, nevertheless tarnish a political class already and often accused of mediocrity, lacking credibility. And the declarations of Gérald Darmanin, to contribute to it, even if this political salient remains calculated.

Another consequence is to amalgamate two distant political currents close to a common political history which is that of Marxism of the seventies and which the Nupes does not claim despite the discomfort felt with regard to the policy of Vladimir Putin. This amalgam could thus have the opposite effect expected by the author, namely to federate even more militants and sympathizers of the Nupes who would then have every opportunity to denounce the irresponsible remarks of the minister easily accused in turn of a form of excessive conservatism.

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Last consequence, also due to error, the desire to replay an obsolete ideological opposition while Macronism, of which the Minister of the Interior, wants to be one of the symbols, presents itself as an unprecedented political synthesis to give birth to the foundations of a new world.

More generally, it appears perhaps and more simply that the exit of Gérald Darmanin also testifies to the growing feverishness, at least current, of a government battered during the examination of the pension reform and which is now seeking to regain a certain aura, even legitimacy within public opinion.

By shifting the debate to pure ideological opposition, regardless of the political content proposed, the Minister of the Interior is developing a tactic that has been used many times and which, once again, is unoriginal and belongs to the old world.

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.