Saving the V republic
international |
worker & community struggles and protests |
news report 
Monday April 03, 2006 15:25
by ipsiphi
"there are no more pilots left if this one be dropped"
As of 17 minutes the left in France has started her attack with an occupation of Trade Union offices.
This is no game, no mock theatre of young malcontents venting traditional fury. This is the real thing.
Tomorrow France mobilises to join the vanaguard, not only against the latest attempt to impose anglo-saxon capitalist labour market adjustments on their rights, but also to break the hegemony of the now failed Chirac regime.
57% of the French polled by Le Monde want the law scrapped.
71% of the French polled by Le Monde believe Chirac has further radicalised discontent by his televised appearances in support of his dauphin Dominque de Villepin. We have all come very far in our local and trans-national struggles, and now it is time to reflect on one thing we have learnt :-
The regimes of Europe's traditional industrial (&/or) imperialist states believe themselves to be "natural governments", alone capable of ruling their peoples in the flux of changing values, conditions and responsibilities at the cusp of the XXI century. They are supported in this belief by the magnates of commercial media who in their turn manipulate and shape public opinion and thus fix elections. It is time to realise, that saying no to Chirac is not the same as saying yes to Francois Holland. As before saying No to Aznar did not mean saying yes to Zapatero. As saying No to Berlusconi is not the same as saying yes to Prodi. But saying NO! to the "leadership class" of the global meritocracy (alone tolerated and sponsored by the real powerbrokers - the multi-national-corporations) is essential. We ought no longer entertain the idea :- "no one else can do the job badly" nor that the diversity of the left is a weakness or demonstrates no culture of good governance.
We may no longer allow the power of commerical media to push the idea that the opposition offered to Berlusconi, Blair, Chirac is too weak to win. That was the notion presented during Aznar's regime. It is and was a lie. Even if weak regimes are elected, the mould will be broken, and we will move out the shadow of perpetual neo liberal globalisation corporative rule by proxy puppet
Traditionally when government of France reaches a certain point of crises, the President drops the prime minister. Thus Chirac dropped Raffarin "the stout" for De Villepin "the lean". Buty this time he has no cards left to play. Tomorrow thus sees France decided the strategy and tactics of its future...
Can Chirac consider replacing De Villepin with Sarkosy? Could he dare take the desk of the elysee and face the cameras yet again addressing "his fellow citizens of the republic and metropole and overseas departments" to usher in the unacceptable? No he can't. The moment Chirac gave the poisioned chalice of saving a failed regime to De Villepin (an unelected politician from the traditional ruling class of graduates of the Ecole Nationale d'Administration ) he entered the endgame of a monumental ideological struggle.
Chirac was in his turn a "great leader" but we have passed the age of great leadership . We are now in the age of setting and making positive examples of what the Republic means. The last year of France's history has offered no such examples.
opinion poll on eve of action-
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-734511,36-757203@51-725561,0.html
video of perhaps the last time Chirac the noble may play his Presidential role with flair
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/video/0,47-0@2-734511,54-756843@51-725561,0.html
background links
the appointment and biography of De Villepin
http://indymedia.ie/article/70054
the social pact?
http://indymedia.ie/article/70140
sunday papers alexandrine edition
http://indymedia.ie/article/74930
with a certain irony the illustration is the cartoon pubished on the 29th of March 1890 in "Punch" magazine, which saw the reaction to Bismarck's dismissal by Kaiser Billy 2 of the German empire drawn by John Tenniel (1820-1914) who was a bitter and sour old imperialist stereotyper.