Why the French presidential elections suck

I mean, it sucked before, but it’s at a level never reached before!

Between COVID and the war in Ukraine, it’s difficult to see what’s going on in other fields in the world. Politically, France is at a pretty important point: the Presidential elections, that we have every five years. The first round, that will determine the two candidates who will reach the second round, is on April 10 and the second on April 24. Last time I was in Lebanon and knew who vote for, despite my candidate not reaching the second round. It was Emmanuel Macron, our current President, and Marine Le Pen from the National Rally, a far-right party inherited from a bunch of Nazis and racists that she is trying to make look « moderate ».

And for this year, it looks like it’s going to be… the same. It’s like nothing happened during those past five years, while A LOT has actually taken place in France and the world. We had the the Gilets Jaunes (yellow vest) movement, mobilizing people dissatisfied with the current state of the social and economical situation in France, we had constant attacks against labour, unemployment, and retirement rights from Macron’s government, we had COVID, and now the war in Ukraine, that completely took over the news.

You have to imagine that because of the different crisis the country went through, the campaign has been very slow to start. No room was really given to potential candidates to express ideas, and on what? The attention was completely on the most urgent topics on the news, and never on what is really important to French people, like financial stability, energy solutions and the environment. Oh no, I’m sorry, room was given to a few things like the « great replacement » conspiracy theory that made right-wing candidates go crazy with « ideas » and the left-wing ones freeze, willing to please people with quick « solutions » towards immigration (as if it was a problem in France!) but also wondering if they could betray the ideas of equality dear to the left.

This campaign was so short that no idea has really reached the electors, and the big majority of us are just plain doubtful and confused, unable to decide who to vote for. The traditional parties, both on the left and on the right, seem somehow completely useless and unrelatable today, no one really sticks out on the left spectrum, and people really suck on the right, like fascists style. For example, Zemmour, a sexist racist douche from the purest strain, the one so full of hate and stupidity that everyone wants to have a glimpse of it.

Another big aspect that affects this year’s elections is the lack of debate. To give you an idea, Macron, who admitted he was a candidate (big shocker!) only very recently, doesn’t really want to debate with anyone because, according to sources close to him, he doesn’t seem the other candidates worthy enough to discuss with. A big debate was organized on France’s main channel TF1, but with eight of the twelve candidates only, like some don’t matter at all. Yes, we know that some won’t reach 2% of votes on the first round, but isn’t it the base of democracy to be able to talk to electors and confront ideas between movements in order to show what you’re in for?

I feel that the elections are this year taken away from us, stolen by people who make a joke out of our concerns and needs. We’ll have again a President whose legitimacy will be constantly questioned, and here for another five years of a democratic joke. But hey, as long as the financial elites are happy…