The right had its industrial accident with Fillon; the left will have its own with Hamon, a quintessential apparatchik converted to universal income. The PS voters have therefore chosen the far left to represent them in the presidential election.
The least one can say is that the PS candidate has ambiguous positions on secularism. Probably not from personal conviction, as he has in the past engaged in some battles with Caroline Fourest, but certainly out of electoralism, given that he is a deputy from Trappes in the Paris suburbs. Thus, one might have been surprised by the lukewarmness (a mild understatement) of his reaction regarding café owners who ban women from their establishments.
Even more concerning, his spokesperson (note the symbolism of the title), Alexis Bachelay, is close to the CCIF, an organization that views secularism as synonymous with Islamophobia. And the spokesperson in question saw fit to organize a meeting with the CCIF on the anniversary of the Charlie massacre… against the state of emergency.
Hamon’s discretion on the subject during the debates becomes clearer. But the geographic analysis of votes for the primary (in Nice, it’s very clear!) shows that the misinformation of secularism equates to Islamophobia has been electorally successful to the detriment of Manuel Valls. For the presidential election, it will probably be a different kettle of fish!
But if you add to this disastrous stance the traditional leniency of the far left for Islamo-leftism, the follow-the-leader attitude of many of the Greens in this matter, and the fact that – even if his program in this regard is not yet finalized – Emmanuel Macron is considered a liberal communitarian in the Anglo-Saxon mold, one might conclude that for a leftist who believes in the current context that secularism is the mother of all battles, the choice will not be simple. It will certainly come down to choosing the lesser evil.
If you don’t want the extreme right, the ultra-liberal right, the far left, or the left of the left, the choices are limited. There aren’t many candidacies likely to appeal to a social-democratic voter who supports a governing left; that’s the least one can say. Count them!
by Patrick Mottard
