admindream called the European Union.
Whereas the Socialist victory in France comes as a sigh of relief and cool air for many weary of capitalist jingoism and the ossified Parliament of Brussels, it has raised many questions? Is the rise of left-wing politics a good omen for Europe and the rest of the world? Is the collapse of the Eurozone imminent? How does a socialist revolt in Europe impact its relations across the Atlantic? What happens after five years from now, a clash of left with the far right or neo Nazis!
To begin with we must congratulate the French electorate for voicing their opinion emphatically, France cannot remain hostage to failing ideas of capitalist ideology. They have bid farewell to Sarkozy or Le president des riches (president of the rich class) and elected someone with a more humane face and act, like Francois Hollande aka Mr Normal.
President-elect Hollande faces the daunting challenges of getting out of the morass of collapsing Eurozone as well as reviewing Franco-German relationship in the full gaze of Angela Merkel whose close co-operation with Sarkozy has been blamed for crises in Eurozone. If Hollande sticks to his principled stance adopted in the election campaign, then we could witness some basic and epoch-making changes in Europe, giving fillip to left wing politics in the entire region.
While left wingers and socialists could keep celebrating their victory, it is becoming obvious the next elections will be contested between far right and far left with obliteration of the centrist parties, and that is the dilemma France and the better part of Europe could face in future. French le Monde described the mood in Maine Le
Pen’s far right Front National Party a day before the final round as, “Marine Le Pen told her supporters at the Front National’s annual May 1 rally: “On Sunday, I will vote blank. I have made my choice. Each of you will make yours.”
According to the polls, 50 percent of her supporters will vote for Sarkozy, 15 percent for Hollande and the rest will abstain. She is betting on Sarkozy’s defeat and wants to be seen as the “official opposition” to the future left-wing president. She is hoping Sarkozy’s Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle (UMP) will implode after the election — he has said that he will retire from politics if he loses; the UMP is likely to be divided, and weakened by personal ambitions (a fight has already begun between UMP general secretary Jean-François Copé, Prime Minister François Fillon and Foreign Minister Alain Juppé).
Le Pen also hopes that UMP members, and even Members of Parliament, will join her party. For her, the next general election, in June, will be decisive — even with 20 percent of the votes, she is not sure her party will get any candidates elected because of the “particularities of French electoral law.”
The polarisation of European politics between far right led by Neo-Nazis and far left lead by Socialists could be an interesting though dangerous development, which could bring major changes in the socio-political landscape of Europe and its peripheries.
The trans-Atlantic relationship between Europe and North America could also see a major shift as individual European nations like France, Spain and even Italy start looking inward and try to put their houses in order, maybe we see lesser scope for adventurism against Asian and African countries like Iran, etc, thus limiting the US ambitions in this part of the world.
If Europe has to survive as a prosperous zone, it may have to follow the dictates of time and not marshalling orders from Washington and Tel Aviv. A socialist revolt in Europe may send some signals to the Occupy Wall Street band, and Americans could turn the next election into an opportunity for overall change.
France has lead the way for Europe many times, in this time of crises when Eurozone is in dire straits, the call for change in Paris has created ripples in the entire region, maybe we have a more benign and positive leadership waiting in the wings in Europe.
Online Reporter