Ultra Reactionary, Le Pen to Decisive Vote
"SP and CP" Defeated on the French President Election (The First Vote)  

Le Pen, "the extreme right", became at second in the first vote of presidential election in France, and he came to face decisive vote with Chirac of the conservatives.

The hole world was dumfounded and bedazed by this result because Le Pen was assumed to fight well but not be able to become at second in the confrontation of Chirac and President Jospin of the Social Democratic Party.

Actually, the assertion of Le Pen is extremely reactionary and provocative.

He cries for foreigner rejection vociferously and emphasizes that it is owing to foreigners that workers lose job. The cause of "aggravation of peace and order" is also ascribed to foreigners. He exclaim as "send illegal emigration home." These appeal to the prejudice of petit bourgeois nationalism, and it is the assertion that is extremely easy to enter vulgar ears.

In addition, he bawls out that the depression and recession of economy is on account of globalism and EU integration, objects to EU integration and calls for overcoming recession by reinforcement and promotion of "national economy."

He demands revival of capital punishment system, and attack the hesitation and hypocrisy (hypocrisy such as supporting "human rights" of criminal persons and looking down "human rights" of victims) of public opinion of liberalism.

Furthermore, he believes in Joan of Ark and goes so far as to respect Hitler, he coolly says and slides over the slaughter of millions of Jew by Nazis as "a trifling case of history".

In addition, he takes a defiant attitude as "the racial inequity is true" and speaks openly the reason such as the superiority and inferiority between races.

Because such a person acquired the second place vote in the presidential election, not only France but also the hole world shuddered and became horrific with the odiousness.

However, of course this is never accident.

The nationalism of Le Pen gave strong impression to the bourgeoisie who doubt EU integration and the hopeless petit bourgeois who were made to stand at the edge of the ruin by globalism. The assertion of Le Pen which looked like only absurd talk for workers sounded like a sweet Gospel from the heaven for them.

However, even if Le Pen became the second, the vote rate is only 17%. The vote rate of Chirac is 20%, and that of Jospin is 16%. Both are a too low vote rate.

The leftist vote dispersed thoroughly. Because many workers voted for the leftist candidates except Jospin or abstained with easily thinking that the decisive vote will become the battle between Chirac and Jospin and then they will vote Jospin. (Abstention rate was 28%, the top in the past.)

The candidates of the leftist parties "shot up." The candidates of citizens movement, the candidates of Green Party, "the Power of Workers" or "the Revolutionary Communist Front" got a vote of several percent and scraped against the vote of SP, Jospin.

We can know a part of the atmosphere of this presidential election when we see that a candidate of "trotskist" fought this election war with openly declaring "proletarian dictatorship", and acquired the vote of several percent.

The workers were disgusted by the power of the Social Party supported by the Communist Party -- conservatives and reformists combination --, and "starved" for the radical assertion as much as that.
It was also symbolic thing that the Communist Party lowered the vote rate from 8.7% to 3.4%, and became abreast with the left wing "minor" factions.

The parties of the left, the anti-establishment parties are not the Social Party nor the Communist Party already, but some parties openly revolting against them are supporting candidates in the presidential election and openly fighting political struggles in France.

Japan is far backward to France and Britain at this point. Because the Communist Party passes still as a representative party of "the left", and the leftist parties or the worker's parties politically overwhelming it do not grow up.

However, as for the political situation, both Japan and European countries are the same.
Not only the workers, but also the whole nation get tired of both conservatives and reformists (the Socialist Party and the Communist Party). People have seen too closely how much the whole "existing parties" was corrupted and decadent.

Though Le Pen intensely attacked the political world, the financial world, the bureaucratic world, mass communication in addition to the foreigners and increased the votes, it teaches how corrupt these world are (as similar to Japan).

The phenomenon like Le Pen is never the affairs of other people for Japan.

Assertion of nationalism liker Le Pen becomes more and more vociferous in Japan. Le Pen appealed for a nation, respect of culture, and patriotism, and these are emphasized recently also in Japan.

Even the exclusion of foreigners is strongly shown in the assertion of Japanese reactionaries. Actually, the assertion of Le Pen and Shintaro Ishihara resembles well each other in an essential point. The demagogic way of Le Pen to bawl out "law and order", and to tie the "aggravation" with foreigners also looks just like the way of Ishiwara.

The most enthusiastic support to Le Pen comes from the people who are ruined by the development of capitalism and EU integration, and are excluded by the benefit. They despair and rage by dissatisfaction and anger, but cannot find the cause. Just therefore, they are caught on demagogy of Le Pen easily and believe that foreigners (especially, Jew), market-opening, EU integration, globalism, or labor movement are "the enemies" and send tumultuous applause to Le Pen attacking them.

This is "a sign of danger", but otherwise, an open appearance of counterrevolution and the menace are one opportunity of class waking of workers.

Workers learns and cannot but learn the basic contradiction of the capital ruling world, that is the reality of inharmonious class opposition just from the existence as Le Pen. Existence as Le Pen is a fact, and Japan is never an exception, too. Workers notice the truth of class struggle and the rule of capital, and realize the inevitability and necessity to fight the class struggle till the last from such a reality.

(Written by Hayashi, Translated by Yoshi)