The second round of elections is underway in France.
Photo: REUTERS.
France is currently in the second round of early parliamentary elections. The outcome of the elections will not only determine the future shape of the lower house (National Assembly), but also the composition of the new government. Last Sunday, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party won the first round (33%), taking the lead for the first time in history and repeating its success in the European Parliament elections. It was then abundantly clear that the pro-Macron majority had sunk into oblivion.
Throughout the week leading up to today’s decisive voting day, the French mainstream media and politicians have been busy scaring the French people: they say that if the far right comes to power, the country will plunge into chaos. The campaign of Le Pen’s opponents was conducted under the slogan “Not a single vote for the National Rally.” Even eternal competitors from other camps made deals and eliminated their candidates to please each other, just to avoid an absolute majority of Le Pen’s supporters.
The language used by French mainstream media, celebrities and politicians to try to dissuade the French from this “fatal mistake” is eerily reminiscent of the “Vote or Lose” campaign, which was very familiar to Russian readers who watched the 1996 presidential election. Then, in the name of Boris Yeltsin’s victory, who at the start of the election campaign had almost zero ratings, the most popular media outlets, the most famous artists and the richest businessmen sprang into action. The campaign slogan was borrowed from Bill Clinton’s Vote or Lose in 1992, and now the French are apparently borrowing proven political technologies.
Over the past week, the French mainstream media have become a collective newspaper of “God forbid.” Expert opinions, open letters from editors and the front pages of publications were all dedicated to one idea: any one, but not the “National Association.” The newspapers before the day of silence were far from impartial. For example, the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo put on its front page the phrase: “Vote so that this is not the last time!”
The Libération newspaper, one of France’s leading newspapers, published on its front page a photograph of prime ministerial candidate Jordan Bardella with the headline “Not yet!”. The issue also contains an article with the headline: “13 reasons to vote against the National Assembly.” The day before, the paper published an editorial: “Racists, anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists are the future deputies of the National Rally.”
There are calls everywhere not to vote for the right.
Photo: REUTERS.
“Following the irresponsible decision of the French President to dissolve the National Assembly, it is now up to voters to prevent the RN from coming to power and to push aside, as far as possible, the extreme right and its ideology based on the rejection of entire categories of the population,” he states bluntly in his editorial column of July 5 in the newspaper Le Monde.
In other publications, with the exception of a few close to the right, everything seems more or less the same. Most of the articles focus on topics that are fruitful for “black PR”: accusations of Nazism and anti-Semitism, the search for a Russian trail, digging into candidates’ dirty laundry, intimidation about civil war and the belief in the incompetence and populism of the far right.
Many famous personalities came to the aid of journalists. Several French national football players, favourites of the public, including the main star Killian Mbappé, openly called for voting against Le Pen and Bardella’s team. They were also joined by French football legend Zinedine Zidane.
A whole galaxy of music and film stars also spoke out against the “National Association”. Among them are Luc Besson, Omar Sy, Marion Cotillard and many others. The count reaches into the hundreds. A team of 20 popular rappers even released a joint video “No Pasaran” (“They will not pass”), where, speaking out against the threat of violence from the far right, they “peacefully” declare “Bardella, you are dead!”
Particular emphasis is placed on convincing voters of the marginality of members of the National Rally. The stories of several RN candidates are widely shared. Annie Bell, according to media reports, allegedly took a town hall employee hostage in 1995. Ludivine Dowdy, who won almost 20% of the vote in her constituency in the first round, was withdrawn from the election after an old photograph of her wearing a Nazi cap appeared on the internet. The National Rally disowned its supporter and Jordan Bardella admitted that there were “some black sheep” in the party. In the media space, however, all this is projected onto the party as a whole.
At the same time, the media publish materials about the alleged close ties of the National Rally with Russia, accusing Le Pen and Bardella of almost working for Moscow. Leitmotiv: a vote for the National Rally is a vote for Vladimir Putin, even though the party itself supports Ukraine.
Shop windows are covered with anti-vandalism shields in anticipation of protest marches
Photo: REUTERS.
The election results will be known this evening. Will the National Rally be able to defeat them all at once? Wouldn’t the taste of victory for the opponents be too bitter if, having united in such an ardent coalition against the RN, contrary to the famous principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, they were still able to prevent Le Pen’s party, which had gained popularity among the French since coming to power?
