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Harrison Stetler is a freelance journalist and teacher based in Paris.
On Thursday, France’s Parti Socialiste refused to back a motion of no confidence in François Bayrou’s government. It sold out its left-wing allies for feeble concessions, renewing the party’s dismal record of tailing neoliberal centrists.
On Friday, veteran liberal François Bayrou was announced as Emmanuel Macron’s new prime minister. Macron has again formed a government without a majority in parliament — and its planned budget cuts seem likely to face fierce opposition.
Last week, France’s left-wing parties tabled the no-confidence vote that felled conservative premier Michel Barnier. Now the Parti Socialiste threatens to break from the left-wing alliance in favor of a coalition with Emmanuel Macron and the center right.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is embroiled in an embezzlement trial that could see her barred from public office. After long demanding such bans for corrupt politicians, she now casts herself as victim of a judicial conspiracy.
Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-proclaimed fascist, is set to appear at a fundraising gala in Paris on Wednesday. Authorities have refused calls to block his visit — even as they silence public displays of solidarity with Palestine.
Mario Draghi’s report on rebooting the European economy has excited supporters of a more integrated EU. The former central banker challenges past pro-austerity dogma — yet takes it for granted that scaled-up private corporations offer Europe’s path to success.
Now starting his 41st year in jail, Lebanese communist Georges Abdallah is Europe’s longest-held political prisoner. French authorities keep finding pretexts to deny his release, trampling on civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism.
After the New Popular Front won July’s French elections, it nominated Lucie Castets for prime minister — only for Emmanuel Macron to ignore the result. Castets told Jacobin how the left-wing coalition can build on its progress and stop the lurch to the right.
France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, has just unveiled a staunchly conservative cabinet. His coalition cobbles together parties who scored feebly in summer’s elections — and looks unlikely to revive Emmanuel Macron’s flagging administration.
New French prime minister Michel Barnier wants to cut the budget deficit, but the president and his allies are resisting all talk of tax increases. They’re dead set on spending cuts — and to pass them, they’ll likely need the far right’s support.
The French election saw the left-wing New Popular Front easily defeat Emmanuel Macron’s allies. But almost six weeks later, Macron still refuses the winners the chance to govern, as he tries to cobble together a minority coalition with conservatives.
Criminal defense lawyer Raphaël Kempf has repeatedly been counsel for defendants in French terrorism trials. He writes for Jacobin about how anti-terrorism cases from France to Israel have undermined the bases of due process.
The French election was meant to bring victory for Marine Le Pen’s far right. But the New Popular Front rallied around a left-wing program for social change — allowing it to become the biggest force in the new National Assembly.
France’s establishment increasingly presents “Islamo-leftists” as the number-one source of antisemitism while whitewashing the far right. A French Jewish activist explains why it is dangerous to counterpose the defense of Jews with that of other minorities.
France’s president called snap elections to show the country was still behind him. It backfired massively — and last night’s first-round results suggest Marine Le Pen’s far right will dominate the new parliament.
The manifesto launch for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National showed how far the party has dropped its welfarist promises. The far right is vaunting its pro-business credentials — and part of France’s corporate elite is warming to its message.
In France, the left-wing parties have allied in a Nouveau Front Populaire, challenging both Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. France Insoumise MP Clémence Guetté told Jacobin about its potential path to victory.
The New Popular Front represents the French left’s best chance to block Marine Le Pen’s path. But a purge of candidates in its biggest force, France Insoumise, is troubling its ranks — and highlights the need for more democratic decision-making.
France’s snap elections are widely seen as an opportunity for Marine Le Pen’s far right. But the left-wing parties’ Nouveau Front Populaire has a real possibility of stopping her — and it’s laid out a radical program to rebuild France’s dilapidated democracy.
After his allies scored just 15% in the European elections, last night Emmanuel Macron called a snap election for the French parliament. It’ll pave the way for a new government — and it could raise Marine Le Pen’s party to power for the first time.