The political beasts lie scattered
So, the little birthday boy’s dream has come true, and Macron is now crowned the new President of France. But what lies in wait for him? Can France be reborn in a new era of equality and justice for all? Can it instigate real change within the EU to get the reforms it so desperately needs?
Macron’s spin doctors have promised much, and now it is the time to deliver. The only problem is that after the election many political beasts now lie wounded strewn across the scarred battlefield. Hollande’s humiliation is now complete, but other beasts are also in their death throes too. On the right is Francois Fillon who was the undisputed favourite to win before the odds were upset by his criminal investigations. Le Pen also lies in ruins. Where did it all go wrong?
France is not like other countries
In most countries like the UK for example, it is usually the political candidate that triumphs over all others to their destruction, but in France this election seems to have been the destruction of the political systems themselves – a constitutional meltdown.
Many felt left out on the second round of election voting - there was not a candidate that represented them from the left or the right. 16 million voters stayed at home as a result. This refusal vote was dubbed ‘Ni-ni-response!’ ‘Neither Macron or Le Pen!’
Despite all this voter apathy, Macron must now take France forward on the current issues of the day. The main one is immigration. France’s expensive social model has taken its toll over time - especially in the era of globalisation with falling wages and rising inflation costs.
French jobs are now being shipped to cheaper locations like Poland and Slovakia, and Macron wants fast EU reforms to allow a two-speed European economy to emerge. The Western European nations vs. the Eastern European nations. Nationalism is once again rising in the Fifth Republic.
On the day after the election in France I was in Paris, and I’ll never forget the CGT Union protesting and chanting in the streets “We have not elected a president, we have elected an industrial boss!” It seems to be business as usual in France. It is now time for the pretty boy to show who truly is the boss of this Fifth Republic.