The end of liberté, égalité, fraternité?

France elected Francois Hollande in the presidential elections on May 6th, the first socialist president since the father of French modern socialism, Francois Mitterand, was first elected in 1981. The comparison between the night Mitterand was elected and Hollande’s victory has been so widely drawn in the media, that I feel ashamed of making it myself, repeating what’s been repeated too many times already.

This rhetorical weakness does prove something though: electing a socialist is almost symbolic. Personally, it is the first time that I am given the chance to experience what living under a socialist President feels like. As of now, I feel slightly dizzy. But that’s possibly the consequence of what is commonly called l’état de grâce; a temporary moment of buoyancy before the transition of power effectively takes place, and the elected president admits full responsibility. And fear not, Francois, there will be a lot of responsibility. But he knows it, it seems.

I intend to make this article a rallying call. I sense a deep social, political and economic fracture in French society and I wish to work towards bridging it to whatever extent possible. Of course I realise I am writing in English, which is possibly a rather subtle means of spreading the word amongst my fellow patriots. But whatever, it has to start somewhere. I’ll also provide discrete insight for Brits and others into French society. Not exactly two birds with one stone, but the shot is still worth taking.

The last weeks of the presidential campaign have been profoundly detrimental to French society. The increase in Sarkozy’s explicit and shocking appeals to extreme right-wing voters were inversely proportional to the number of days left before the ballots were cast. This half-concealed call to Marine Le Pen’s electorate based on rigid ‘ideas’ of social sectarianism has exacerbated tensions amongst what too many refuse to recognise as the entire French population. Although much of his presidency has been punctuated by such shameful occurrences, and not limited to the presidential campaign, the race to the Elysée was a true climax in this regard.

But Sarkozy – and his ‘lieutenants’ – are not the only ones to blame. Le Pen is an obvious contender who needs no introduction. Other candidates brought with them a handful of simplistic, sectarian clichés. The extreme left was widely represented during the elections, via the figures of Philippe Poutou (NPA), Jean-Luc Mélenchon (FDG), and Nathalie Artaud (Lutte Ouvrière). Most of them have declared a full-on war against ‘the rich’, dangerously simplifying class divisions in what can appropriately be called a populist move. Ironically, the most moderate, ‘normal man’, won it in the end.

Although most will argue that these populist electoral strategies, both on the right (mainly with the issues of immigration, security, authoritarianism and foreigners’ votes in local elections) and on the left (the war against ‘the rich’ and the financial system) were a temporary lowering of values intended to hook more voters, few acknowledge the fact that the values now scattered within the collective psyche have repercussions.

The intrusion of absurdities into the political debate, which threatened to transform the election into a competition of pettiest politics (such as the halal meat, the ‘relative worth of civilisations’, the vote of foreigners in local municipal elections, the greed of ‘the rich’ and the ‘financial world’) do not just go away once we all agreed on who should move into the presidential palace. These narratives have institutionalised and normalised xenophobic and discriminatory assumptions based on fear.

Some people will still firmly believe that ‘Arabs’ are invading France, obliging people to eat halal meat, or, as Interior Minister Claude Guéant claimed, are soon to force upon us gender-separated attendance times at municipal swimming pools, or even more disgracefully, obliging us to wear ‘Islamic-style swimsuits’ (I’m still trying to figure that one out).

These politicians cannot just turn their backs and ignore the consequences of their political rhetoric. They have not just appealed to a particular belief, however misinformed and bigoted, residing in some Frenchmen’s hearts; they fed this bigotry and these racial, social and political divides. They have cultivated a sense of fear, and used it to apply whatever idiocy could best serve their political strategies.

Let us observe how this is all ending. Sarkozy, despite his scandalous and perilous electoral strategies, is stepping down with class. I beg all my French friends to take this as a lesson: the race to the Elysée is a vicious race, wherein contestants are not afraid to use fear as a means to cross the finish line first. Although that’s reprehensible, let us not fall in the easy trap of hatred and sectarianism, and stand proud of a multicultural society, well represented by Prime Minister Ayrault’s new government.