Le Front National
If you have read the section about me you will know that I am studying French as part of my A-levels. Part of this is an oral exam, for which a topic or special interest area is needed. I decided to choose the French Front National as my topic, to indulge my political interests. So I know a bit about it.
The Front National (FN) is an extreme right-wing party in France. These types of party exist all over the place: the British National Party, the Nazis, the list goes on. The difference with the FN is that it commands 15% of the French, and controls four regional councils in the south of France.
Now I may be right-wing, but this I abhor. How on earth can a party which openly advocates racist and xenophobic policies, including sending 'immigrants', even those who were born in France, back to their 'country of origin', exist in modern society?
There a few answers. One: Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the party. This man may be in his 70s, but he sure knows how to whip a crowd up into a frenzy. And he goes the whole hog: nationalistic songs are commonplace at FN rallies, and he gets a rapturous reception from the party faithful every time he takes the stage. He is undoubtedly part of the reason for the FN's success.
Two: the state of France as a whole. France has had a rate of unemployment in double figures for most of the decade, and understandably most French are fed up with it. Now when the FN comes along and says it will get rid of all the 'immigrants' and give their jobs to those who are left, it sounds attractive, particularly when you bear in mind that none of the other parties in France have managed to reduce unemployment yet.
Three: The FN makes fantastical claims about what it is going to do. Abolish income tax after seven years; rid the streets of juvenile delinquents; raise the number of police; generally make France the best country ever. All of this, of course, is rubbish: the sums don't add up for a start. But to the casual observer only listening to soundbites, again this creates a more favourable impression of the FN than might otherwise have been there.
So we have the FN, a fascist party that also manages to be fairly mainstream: it certainly rivals the Liberal Democrats in terms of percentage vote. Is there any reason to be worried?
Not really. Clearly the FN would be terrible in government, as it would not be able to deliver on most of its policy statements. Also, much of its popularity is built on Jean-Marie Le Pen, and he is getting old; on the high rate of unemployment, which really ought to start falling soon; and, perhaps more importantly, there has recently been a major spat within the party in which Le Pen and his deputy Megret have traded insults, resulting in Megret's departure. Le Pen has lost a lot of credibility as a result of this.
Net result? A salutary tale. We have already seen the Great Depression give rise to Naziism and Communism. Now again, the poor state of the French economy has given rise to an extreme party. It seems that all governments must be careful to keep their populations in work, and happy, or something much worse could happen.