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[av_heading heading=’ INTERNATIONAL ILONGGO | The center cannot hold’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JED JALECO DEL ROSARIO
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Sunday, May 14, 2017
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EMMANUEL Macron has won the French presidential election and is now the new President of France. And yet his victory may be a hollow one. Macron is distrusted by both France’s Nationalist Right as well as its Socialist Left, and he is unlikely to fix the growing social rifts spreading all across French society. There are a few reasons on why this is the case.
Firstly, Macron has made numerous statements throughout his political campaign that have provoked various groups in Europe, including certain comments about French culture as well as threats against the government of Hungary for refusing to take in Muslim immigrants. Such statements have made a lot of people in and outside of France to be more wary of Macron, and even now, the new French President has to contend with the possibility of increasing political isolation.
Secondly, it’s worth mentioning that a significant portion of Macron’s voters came from the elderly Baby Boomer generation, whereas around 44 percent Marine Le Pen’s supporters belonged to 18 to 24 year olds. In other words, Macron’s supporters will die off in the foreseeable future, whereas the younger voters who opposed him are likely to become more radical as time passes.
And finally, there are the Macron leaks which nearly cost him the presidency. These leaks include several documents that seem to indicate Macron being involved in fraud and tax evasion. If more serious revelations come up then they could greatly undermine his administration.
So despite his clear victory in the French presidential elections, President Macron has very little political capital at the moment. Moreover, given the instability in the Eurozone, Macron’s victory can also be seen as a kind of defensive action, a way to kick the can down the road for the European Union (EU).
It’s worth remembering that Macron was supported by France’s mainstream to prevent radical elements in French politics (like his opponent Le Pen) from seizing power and destroying the EU project. In this sense, Macron can be seen as a tool for stabilizing French society, or even as a kind of cork to prevent radical impulses from bursting out of the French psyche.
However, although Macron was elected to preserve the EU project, his proposed technocratic policies are not likely to save either France or the EU. At best, Macron’s administration will only extend the EU’s lifespan until the next election.
Indeed, based on what we’ve seen from some of his election statements, it’s very likely that the new French President will exacerbate some of the problems causing the radicalization of France and much of the rest of Europe.
So in the final analysis, Macron’s victory is a very pyrrhic one, and based on what we can see right now, it seems that Macron is just a band-aid on the ailing problems of the EU. Eventually, however, a real cure will be required, and that cure may involve a lot pain. (jdr456@gmail.com/PN)
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