Abstention lowest since 1997 at 32.5% (cf 53% in 2022)
Macron’s big gamble has failed. By calling a snap election, he thought the French people would rally around his centrist party and the moderate left to put Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN, National Rally) back in its box after its victory in the recent Euro elections. He assumed a bigger turnout would not favour Le Pen’s extreme right-wing, post-fascist party. On the contrary, 20% more people turned out than in 2022. The RN consolidated its Euro vote and successfully allied with a split from the mainstream Les Républicains (LR, the Republicans). In terms of actual votes – around 12 million if you add in the votes of the Zemmour current who got less than 1% – this is a massive breakthrough. Previous scores in legislative elections were less than half this.
“Macron’s gamble has backfired spectacularly, with the Rassemblement National consolidating its Euro vote and securing an unprecedented number of MPs in the first round.”
The RN has never had so many MPs elected in the first round. They were already the biggest single party in the National Assembly, and it is probable now that they will maintain that position with even more MPs. However, it is still uncertain whether they will get the 289 MPs needed for an absolute majority, which would guarantee them the premiership with their young leader Bardella.
Everything depends on what happens in the second-round run-off. The top two stand automatically, but the third candidate can run in the second round if they have more than 12.5% of the registered voters. All the discussion immediately following the election focuses on whether the best-placed candidate to defeat the RN is given a free run by any eligible third-place candidates stepping down. Leaders of the Nouveau Front Populaire (the New Popular Front-NPF) from the Socialist Party, the Ecologists, and La France Insoumise (France Unbowed – LFI) led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have all called for this ‘barrage’ (bloc) to stop the RN winning.
En cas de triangulaire, si le Rassemblement national est en tête et que nous sommes troisième, nous retirerons nos candidatures.
However, leaders of Macron’s Ensemble (Together) party have been much more equivocal. Some have called for blocking the RN with a single candidate, while others have said they will judge on a case-by-case basis. Bruno Le Maire, current economics minister, and Edouard Philippe, former Macronist prime minister, hold this position, saying they will vote for the social democratic left but not for the LFI. They refuse to support second-placed candidates from the LFI, whom they consider as extreme as the RN. These people do not like the way the LFI have supported the Palestinians and condemned the Israeli state or criticised police actions in ethnic minority neighbourhoods. This vacillating position could help the RN squeeze past both the Left and the Macron parties in a three-way race in some areas.
This is a very affectionate tribute to an Italiam woman written by her son-in-law, Dave Kellaway. It comes from Dave’s facebook page.
The badante (live-in-home carer) system in Italy
Dave Kellaway’s description of the Italian state’s support system enabling unhealthy older people to finish their lives at home will interest readers in Ireland – where a similar system could easily be established.
A key reason why they have been able to stay together is the badante (live-in home carer) system that exists in Italy. Nearly entirely made up of legal or so called ‘illegal’ migrants from South Asia, Eastern Europe or the Phillipines the badantes live 24/7 with a day off a week looking after Italy’s infirm older people. Scandalously the present hard right Meloni government is always talking about an invasion of migrants and encourages racism towards them. However without this army of wonderful carers the old age welfare system would collapse. We have been very lucky with the most tender, skilled carers from Kerala, South India. Anton, Mariam and George have been essential for helping Ciro and Francesca to spent their final years together. Thank you for your service and love.
I don’t always write much about personal matters but my mother in law just died this week and I found myself wanting to write about her life – her struggles and success and how she was so welcoming to me. I have produced this memoir which is longer than the usual facebook post:
Part of the reason why I wanted to write this memory of my mother-in-law is that we need to respect and value the lives of those who are not lauded publicly, who are not elected, selected or the winner of prizes. Working class lives, particularly women, are particularly hidden from history. The priest came just now to bless the body and talked about gratitude. He was right, whether you are a believer or not, we need to show true gratitude to the lives of people who loved us, who gave up stuff to help us thrive. Francesca grew up in some of the world’s more exclusive tourist spots on the Amalfi coast in Ravello and Albori. Her childhood was far from relaxing or contemplative. Childhood was different for people growing up as tenant farmers in poor rural areas. Nicola, her younger brother, went North to live and work with an uncle in Ivrea, near Turin when he was eleven. Her sister remembers when they used to gather wood in the hills of Albori to exchange for bread in Vietri on the coast. After the end of fascism and the Second World War, she left school at 8 years old to help her parents work the land. Life was tough after the war as economic activity slowly recovered. She was born too early for the Italian state to ensure she stayed in school to become literate. Numbers, on the other hand, she learnt from an early age. Learning comes quickly if you need the money from selling lemons or milk. Everything depends on getting the prices right and counting the change properly. Francesca carried that skill throughout her life. She was the one who was in charge of the household accounts, the savings and much, much later, the prized house purchase. Francesca’s own mother was not always supportive of her developing skills or interests than did not meet the needs of the household as she saw them. For example when she wanted to meet her future mother in law for the first time, she had secretly made her own dress without her mother’s permission. She even made another dress for her little sister, Maria, who was chaperoning her on this visit. Life was difficult in poor families and mothers were particularly harsh at times with their daughters who were expected to do lots of household chores. People who are familiar with the books (now a TV series) of Elena Ferrante – My Brilliant Friend – can see how tough, even cruel, parents could be at that time. On 24 January, she passed away. I look at her skeletally thin body, grey pallor and sunken eyes as she lies out before her funeral. Then I remember just how fit, strong and healthy she always was until the shock of a life threatening operation for colon cancer three years ago. I remember once being called down to the front gate of her apartment block to give a hand to bring some packages in. I was amazed to see her coming up the stairs with a huge package on her head! She was well into her 60s at that stage. How the strength has drained from her. At twenty years old she married Ciro and moved to Marini – a village in the hills above Cava dei Tirreni. There she used to milk the cows every morning and then carry the two ten litre cans three kilometres down the hill to sell in Molina near the coast. I know the area well, it’s really steep! The path in those days was a bit scary in places and you had to navigate a live railway line and bridge. Her eldest daughter, Carmela, remembers falling down one day with her mum. At least the cans were empty on the walk back up.
Tomás Ó Flatharta 