French Elections 2017

Patrick_Hockstetter said:
http://usdefensewatch.com/2017/04/emmanuel-macron-frances-manchurian-candidate/

Emmanuel Macron, France’s Manchurian Candidate
Click to expand...

Where to start ? Do I even want to comment on this ?

It's 200% biased pro Le Pen (Joan of Arc, let me laugh...) and factually borderline on Macron.

I love how France is always associated to NATO while they conveniently forget that until the 1990s, france was pursuing a strategy of independence and that we joined the integrated committee only in 2009. France is probably the most reluctant member state of NATO, as are a big part of the french politicians.

Macron is actually in favor of remaining in NATO as long as we don't have a European equivalent.

Remember that I don't support Macron.
 
Interesting thing that I observed is that the class divide is quite big in France, at work everyone is an engineer and pretty much went to one of the Grande écoles, they almost instinctively are voting for Macron. However in the area that I stay, which is largely blue color, the people are learning more towards Le Pen, some have their reservations however. I reckon that Macron will win, but it will be a lot closer than what most people think.
 
Nicodeamus said:
Interesting thing that I observed is that the class divide is quite big in France, at work everyone is an engineer and pretty much went to one of the Grande écoles, they almost instinctively are voting for Macron. However in the area that I stay, which is largely blue color, the people are learning more towards Le Pen, some have their reservations however. I reckon that Macron will win, but it will be a lot closer than what most people think.
Click to expand...

Exactly as it was with Trump and Brexit: the less educated vote for the lying populists, the more informed vote for people who, even if they aren't going to fix everything, at least aren't going to make it terrible.
 
Marine Le Pen Draws Cheers in Macron’s Hometown, and He Gets Boos

PARIS — France’s presidential contest moved on Wednesday to an unlikely arena: a tumble dryer factory in the country’s north where, if the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, did not quite humiliate her rival, Emmanuel Macron, she sure upstaged him.

Workers at the plant, run by Whirlpool in Mr. Macron’s hometown, Amiens, have been striking to prevent the factory from closing. Far from being welcomed as a favored son, Mr. Macron was jeered and booed by a hostile crowd as tires burned, while Ms. Le Pen paid a surprise visit and was greeted with hugs and selfies as activists with her National Front party distributed croissants.

Their separate visits, covered live on French television, showed how Ms. Le Pen’s anti-globalization message resonates in regions struggling with factory closings and the loss of jobs, as well as the hostility that many workers feel for Mr. Macron, a centrist former investment banker who wants to loosen labor rules.

The contrasting styles, policy approaches and loyalties of the candidates, who face each other in a runoff election on May 7, were on full display in Amiens, sometimes painfully so.

Mr. Macron met first with a few union representatives from the factory at the local chamber of commerce; Ms. Le Pen beat him to the plant itself.

Mr. Macron said that he could not stop companies from firing workers, but that he would fight to find a buyer for the plant or to retrain workers. Ms. Le Pen promised to save the plant and the nearly 300 jobs there that are supposed to be shifted to Poland next year, and said she would discourage companies from moving jobs abroad with a 35 percent tax on any products imported from plants that are outsourced from France.

One of Mr. Macron’s supporters, the writer and economist Jacques Attali, said in an interview on French television that the case of the Whirlpool factory was an “anecdote,” meaning a detail in the wider context of France’s economy.

“The president of the Republic isn’t here to fix every individual case,” Mr. Attali said.

Of course, it was no detail to the people who work there, and campaign officials for Mr. Macron, who has sometimes been criticized as lacking empathy for working people, had to scramble to distance themselves from the comments.

It was just one example of how Mr. Macron, 39, who has never held elected office and is running against a political veteran, was on the back foot all day.
Click to expand...
 
Interesting... Macro voters least loyal - possible problem in legislative elections in June?

C-ZerhNXkAAOjSP.jpg

Macron vs Le Pen: the voters they attract

Also interesting as compared to other Western nations, particularly the US and the UK, the youth vote was won by Le Pen:

Ms Le Pen was the most popular candidate among younger and prime-age voting groups, according to an exit poll of 9,010 voters by OpinionWay. The National Front (FN) candidate even beat the far-left independent Mr Mélenchon — who made innovative use of social media and technological wizardry on the campaign trail — among the 18-34 and 35-49 age groups.

Economic frustration has driven young people from their traditional affiliation with the left to the far-right populist party; youth unemployment continues to hover around 25 per cent, roughly double that of the UK and up from 18 per cent in 2008. However, Mr Macron’s optimism has still resonated with students. He beat the other main contenders to take just over 30 per cent of their vote.

Among older voters, rightwing Catholic Mr Fillon won the highest vote share — a whopping 40 per cent — while Mr Macron came second with nearly 27 per cent. Now that Mr Fillon has been knocked out of the race, this leaves a large slice of the conservative elderly vote up for grabs in the second round run-off.
Click to expand...
 
Of course.

Le Pen's replacement as FN leader 'questioned existence of gas chambers'

Marine Le Pen’s replacement as acting leader of Front National during the final days of her French presidential campaign is facing criticism over past statements he made apparently questioning the existence of Nazi gas chambers.

“I believe we should be able to discuss this issue [of gas chambers],” Jean-François Jalkh, who was nominated interim president of the far-right party after Le Pen’s decision to stand aside, reportedly told an academic in an interview in 2000.

In comments unearthed by a journalist at La Croix newspaper and republished in Le Monde, Jalkh, an MEP, argued he was not a Holocaust denier but had spoken to a chemistry expert about Zyklon B, which was used in the extermination chambers.
Click to expand...
 
OrbitalDawn said:
Of course.

Le Pen's replacement as FN leader 'questioned existence of gas chambers'
Click to expand...

They also need to keep the old friends happy... They can't always look modern !

Bad luck for them, it's even in a book where he basically says that scientifically it is impossible to use Zyklon B to gas.

74c2f9c94df6b8b1916cc606ffdd209e.jpg
 
Last edited:
Interesting article by Le Monde on the powers of a president with and without a parliamentary majority (remember the MP elections are in June).

http://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs...ue-avec-et-sans-majorite_5118650_4355770.html

I've Google translated it and tried to correct the non senses but didn't look at it word by word though. I've added things in italic.

What are the powers of a President of the Republic, with and without a majority?
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen confront their programs to convince the voters. But do their proposals really fall under the prerogatives of a President of the Republic?

The World | 27.04.2017 at 12:56 • Updated 28.04.2017 at 09h06 |
By Eléa Pommiers

Can the President of the Republic really do everything? The debates of the presidential election, which see candidates confront each other on very precise programs, sometimes give the impression that they can. But if the presidential victory is a necessary step for Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen , it is far from sufficient. Almost all the measures promised by the two candidates can only be implemented if the winner on 7 May obtains a majority in the National Assembly. Explanations.

What the Constitution says

The text is very clear on the separation of powers. The government " determines and conducts the policy of the nation "; Parliament votes the laws and can overthrow the government. The president is an " arbitrator " who ensures the " regular functioning of the public authorities " and " the continuity of the State ", and a guarantor of " national independence, territorial integrity and respect for the Treaties ".

According to the Constitution, the President of the Republic is not in charge of the domestic policy. Its own powers are, in reality, framed:

He is the guarantor of the Constitution and can therefore refer the matter to the Constitutional Council if he considers that a law violates constitutional principles (but parliamentarians can also do so since 1974) Citizens as well since a constitutional reform made under Sarkozy;
He appoints the Prime Minister of its choice;
He is the chief of the armed forces and the sole holder of the " nuclear fire";
He may assume exceptional powers in the event of a " serious and immediate " threat to the institutions, independence of the nation, territorial integrity or the fulfillment of international commitments;
He may dissolve the National Assembly; New MP elections have to be organized quickly
He may pardon individual convicts;
He negotiates and signs international treaties;
He may call a referendum to have a law passed under Article 11 ( on a limited number of subjects );
The President of the Republic also has a power of appointment for certain "civil and military posts" which can not be delegated . Thus, it appoints only the prefects strange French concept, they are representatives of the national government at local level, they are mostly in charge of the police and the public order, the councilors of state members of the councils of state which are the administrative courts dealing with issues between a private party and the state, as opposed to civil courts dealing with matters between private parties and criminal courts which are criminal, the ambassadors, the rectors of academy in charge of universities, high schools and schools within the regionor the directors of central administration; But also magistrates of the judiciary, professors of higher education , or officers of the land, sea and air forces. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen could sign alone these decrees of appointment once being elected.


Do the presidents comply with what the text says?

In most cases, these constitutional provisions are diluted in the practice of power . When the President obtained a majority of his party at the National Assembly , the President of the Republic frees himself from the letter of the Constitution and takes the liberty to propose laws. It then encroaches on the role of government, and in fact possesses an important power, often described as stronger than that of most of its international counterparts.

The two candidates hope to be in this situation, since almost all of their proposals come under prerogatives which are not those of the President. This will not pose a major problem if the winner of the presidential election is supported by a majority in the Assembly: he will have full latitude to implement his program.

On the other hand, if not, Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen would find themselves in a situation of cohabitation. This has occurred three times since the beginning of the Fifth Republic (1986-1988, 1993-1995, 1997-2002). In these three cases, the President of the Republic has appointed a Prime Minister of the same political color as the majority in the Assembly meaning from an opposite party to the President's one, even if the Constitution does not oblige him to do so. Why ? Because if the President appoints a prime minister who does not come from the parliamentary majority, the Assembly risks to overthrow the government by a motion of censure.

Thus, while Jacques Chirac , right-wing president, was at the Elysée from 1997 to 2002, it was the policy of the Socialist Party that was applied for five years by the government of Lionel Jospin. In this configuration, the candidate who will be elected on 7 May would be forced to comply with the Constitution and the implementation of his program would be greatly compromised.

Concretely, what could Macron or Le Pen do without majority?

Even if it has never been done, the new president could decide to ignore the parliamentary majority and appoint a government of its own political side. But this would presumably lead to a succession of governments' reversals or dissolution of the Assembly. In other words, a heavy paralysis of institutions. The newly elected President could not do very much.

He would not have much room for maneuver in appointing a cohabitation government. Pensions, unemployment insurance, education, taxes , immigration and the conditions for the granting of nationality, company taxation , public employment, criminal sanctions, labor National defense... All these themes are in the domain of the law and fall within the power of Parliament , and of the government that springs from it. Even Emmanuel Macron's idea of "governing by presidential executive orders" would not allow his program to be implemented: only the government can issue orders, and only with the authorization of Parliament. The only possibility for the president is to sign them, or not, to decide on their coming into force. He can therefore block them if he wishes. which in practice has never happened

However, an article in the Constitution would allow the candidate elected on 7 May to act in accordance with some of his commitments, even in the case of cohabitation: Article 11. It would enable the President to apply his proposals for constitutional reform and foreign policy.

Reform of the Constitution

The text provides for a review procedure (Article 89) which requires the vote of the National Assembly and the Senate. But Article 11 authorizes the Head of State to have certain laws passed by referendum, without going through Parliament. To use it to reform the Constitution is possible, but little practiced until then. Only General de Gaulle used it in this spirit, even if it provoked criticism for having " twisted the spirit of the text ", and it lead him to resign after the "no" vote at its 1969 referendum.

Marine Le Pen could implement its constitutional reform this way . In addition, as it intends to expand the possibility of referendums to all laws, it could be used to vote certain measures in its program. This has never been done since the beginning of the Fifth Republic (excluding institutional reforms). The situation would be all the more unprecedented, and its outcome all the more uncertain, as the government might be opposed to it.

International prerogatives

There remains foreign policy, where the President could apply his proposals in full conformity with the Constitution. He appoints ambassadors, negotiates treaties and, thanks to Article 11, has the possibility of ratifying these treaties by referendum without going through Parliament. This is how Emmanuel Macron could implement his proposals for a reform of the European Union. It is also in this way that Marine Le Pen could realize its flagship measure: negotiate and have ratified a project to leave the European Union .

But if the parliamentary majority acquired by the President most often supports his reforms, the referendum plebiscite is much less automatic. To govern by referendum would thus pose a major risk for the President of the Republic: that of being directly disavowed by the electors during his mandate. excluding the logistics of organizing a national referendum every month or so

Eléa Pommiers
Click to expand...
 
Source: France election: Macron says EU must reform or face 'Frexit'
"I'm a pro-European, I defended constantly during this election the European idea and European policies because I believe it's extremely important for French people and for the place of our country in globalisation," Mr Macron, leader of the recently created En Marche! movement, told the BBC.

"But at the same time we have to face the situation, to listen to our people, and to listen to the fact that they are extremely angry today, impatient and the dysfunction of the EU is no more sustainable.

"So I do consider that my mandate, the day after, will be at the same time to reform in depth the European Union and our European project."

Mr Macron added that if he were to allow the EU to continue to function as it was would be a "betrayal".
Click to expand...
Seems like someone is jumping on the anti-EU bandwagon, is he more worried about Le Pen's odds than one might imagine?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X