See you in the struggles

By the time you read this, the National Assembly's vote will likely have sent François Bayrou back to his town hall in Pau. September 10th will have gone from virtual to real , with the support of trade unions. These trade unions are actively preparing a powerful day of strikes and demonstrations for September 18th.

But as I write, none of this has happened yet. At this point, it is worth taking a look at what we have just experienced or are currently experiencing, so keen is the sense of waste that drives us. Barely a year ago, the President of the Republic could and should have appointed a Prime Minister who reflected the vote of the French people in the early legislative elections. This person should have come from the New Popular Front, which came out on top in an election that was all the more significant because of the high turnout, as it always is, when the stakes are clear.

Instead, the President of the Republic has continued to play for time and continually delayed the appointment of a Prime Minister, leading France into the absurd situation of being without a government for several months and largely on standby, when there was, and still is, such a need for a vigorous economic and social policy.

Then, when he finally made up his mind, he made a choice contrary to the result of universal suffrage by appointing, on September 5, a right-wing prime minister, Michel Barnier, whose first act was to turn not to the left but to the extreme right, even though the citizen mobilization at the ballot box had just taken place precisely to block the latter's access to power. Two months later, the same thing happened again.

Although at the very beginning François Bayrou seemed to want to rely on social dialogue, notably by initiating a conclave "without totems or taboos" on pensions, he quickly dashed hopes by rejecting in advance any proposal aimed at challenging the 64-year age limit. Finally, since the spring, we have witnessed a veritable frenzy of measures that are both antisocial and authoritarian on unemployment insurance and medical deductibles.

In addition to his extremely serious budgetary proposals, each of François Bayrou's speeches (and there are many) aims to pit one part of the population against another: the "boomers" against the youngest, job seekers against those who have one, immigrants against the French, people in poor health against those in good health, etc. In this strategy of everyone against everyone, we note the total absence, in the Prime Minister's remarks, of what underlies the growing social inequalities that are fracturing our country, nor any analysis of what has led to the budgetary difficulties we are experiencing; the refusal to make large fortunes and capital contribute.

It is therefore without regret that we see the departure of this Prime Minister who, contrary to his dreams, will not leave a great place in history. It is now a question of taking up the torch to demand an innovative policy and for this, the role of the social movement is essential. It is up to it to impose through strong and unifying struggles that social needs, the climate emergency, are at the heart of the policies that will soon be implemented. The involvement of each and every one of us will be decisive. So see you in the struggles!