Will this work? Last night, five days away from finally unveiling her presidential policies, Ségolène Royal makes a major speech in front of some 5,000 supporters in Paris , with a string of PS elephants sitting on the front row. The woman who has made so much of participative democracy, who has used the web to open up discussions with a wide public, launches straight into: “The French people want a choice based on a clear cleavage. I have decided to take on this cleavage, for it opposes two conceptions of society, two ways of governing, two visions of France.” France split in two again, pitting one person against another, oh dear: “France is not the synthesis of the Ancien Régime and the Revolution….It is the clean break made by the Revolution which explains today’s France…” Does she believe that? She has only to look at her principal rival’s chief adviser to know that’s not true: François Bayrou’s long-time adviser is a certain Charles de Courson, who comes from one of France’s oldest families, a brilliant enarque but set against elites of any sort, whether ancien régime-based or ENA-made: he epitomises the best of the old and the new. But Madame Royal wants to see what is not there, a clean break. More ideological conflict when ideologies no longer work. And she then procedes to make a traditional left-wing speech, going into the history of the left, quoting all the 19th and early 20th century greats as if society had remained static all that time. Looking at the future through the eyes of history. It is a peculiarly French habit: very often, interviewing someone about why they think such-and-such or adopt a particular policy, they begin their answer by saying “The way to understand this problem [anything from immigration to the internet] is to go back to Robespierre’ speech on the 19th May…….”

But the problem of France’s clivage is more pressing. Many of us had hoped that by listening to a wider public the socialist candidate would broaden her own policies to admit the multi-faceted nature of today’s problems and appeal to the people of France, rather than just to the committed left. It’s the complexities of today’s society she should “take on”, not its cleavage. But no. She has decided to make the inter-party fight her campaign, not the future of France. I imagine Sarko’s boys are rubbing their hands with glee, for in a straight fight against their implacable machine Royal has very little chance. Her better hope was to engage people right across the spectrum - since there are many on the right who are wary of Sarko. Blair’s third way, to mention the unmentionable. But no. Left versus right, punch for punch and large numbers of voters switch off, cynical and disillusioned.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 6:21 am and is filed under Political, Ségolène Royal, Participative Democracy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.