My first wish is directly linked to current events and the crisis our country is experiencing.
Indeed, I ardently hope for 2019, in light of recent events, for the rehabilitation of representative democracy. A representative democracy too often attacked lately, both at roundabouts and by political leaders who, out of demagoguery, risk sawing off the branch they are sitting on. (They resemble Lenin’s capitalists who were so foolish that they were capable of selling the rope that would hang them!)
Indeed, direct democracy fueled by referendums is an illusion; it has never worked, and the sophistication of our societies condemns it forever. One does not govern a country like a homeowners’ association (if such an assembly can even be considered a model).
Participatory democracy, however, which is sometimes mentioned, is something entirely different. We were even pioneers in this area long before it was fashionable, by introducing participatory democracy mechanisms inspired by the experience of Porto Alegre in Brazil into our municipal program in 2001. But participatory democracy is not an alternative to representative democracy; it is its extension and improvement. Its implementation is relatively complex and requires continuous civic engagement. It has nothing to do with the sham orchestrated by Christian Estrosi. Neighborhood councils, which became territorial councils, instituted to stifle neighborhood committees, and the Consultative Communal Council, are such caricatures that, after initially participating, Dominique in the former and myself in the latter, we decided to withdraw from them.
But crucial as it is, representative democracy must always be reinvented; it is always open to improvement. Especially with this Fifth Republic in its five-year term version, which is not far from the permanent coup denounced in his time by François Mitterrand. Let 2019 be the year of true awareness and citizen mobilization to demand a constitutional reform that is not the insipid little reform promised by the government. A reform that would bring France back into the camp of countries with a truly democratic and thus representative regime, whether parliamentary or presidential.
My second wish concerns Europe.
As a convinced federalist, I hope that the European elections will put a stop to the growth of populism. That they will vindicate the great Victor Hugo by bringing about “the defeat of demagoguery, which will be the victory of the people.”
This does not mean we should settle for the status quo with this weak and divided European Union, which sometimes caricatures itself. The upcoming elections must not turn into a referendum for or against Europe (Brexit demonstrates the futility of such a debate every day) but should be an opportunity to define the content of the federal, democratic, and social Europe we want.
My third wish is for a social rebalancing of the government’s policy.
After two years in office, this power that was supposed to be neither right nor left has nonetheless positioned the cursor well to the right, as evidenced by the comparative example I often use: tax exemption of overtime versus reintroduction of the ISF (Wealth Tax). Let 2019 be the year of this rebalancing, but I am not sure this can be achieved by a Philippe/Le Maire/Darmanin government.
The fourth wish will not surprise you coming from a Radical, as I will always be. 2019 must be the year of preserving our secular Republic and combating fundamentalism and communalism.
Strasbourg tragically reminded us that the military defeat of Daesh did not eradicate the terrorist potential of Islamist fundamentalism. We must not lower our guard. But beyond that, we must aim for mobilization against communalism and for secularism. Some presidential declarations, the renewal of Jean-Louis Bianco at the head of the Observatory of Secularism, a promise to overhaul the 1905 law, are sources of concern that should prompt republicans to remain vigilant.
