World of Chig   

22.4.02

Mon Dieu! Sacre bleu! etc....


When I was a mere second year undergraduate, my specialist subject in our French politics module was the rise of the Front National in France, and the politics of Jean-Marie Le Pen, and it's a subject which has retained my interest ever since. At the time, his localised electoral successes were much talked about as being the thin end of the wedge. Wind forward sixteen years, and what's the news tonight? French voter apathy and an underwhelming campaign from Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has meant that France is about to face a Presidential run-off with Le Pen himself in the final two. The thought that centrists and left-wingers will now have to vote for the appalling Chirac as the 'least worst' option must be making a fair few French people feel physically sick. Let's just hope Le Pen's latent support doesn't get too enthused by this. Today's elections in Saxony, Germany have also seen gains made by the right at the expense of Schroeder's Christian Democrats. It's not all bad news though; the Conservative Prime Minister of Hungary has lost to the left. Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts...

· link

Home