May 2, 2002-Vol33n27: Faculty comment on rise of Le Pen in France

Faculty comment on rise of Le Pen in France
Vardi, Welch say extremist's showing in election a fluke, signifies emerging racism

By PATRICIA DONOVAN
Contributing Editor

Right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen's electoral success in the qualifying race for the French presidential election, which the London Daily Standard referred to as "the awakening of a vampire," may signify emerging racism, but will be "dealt with responsibly by European nations," a UB human-rights expert says.

Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science, says he was surprised by the showing of Le Pen and his ultra-right wing National Front, which has been publicly deplored throughout Europe—even by the right—for its virulent racism and attacks on immigrants and immigration laws.

"It demonstrates the streak of racism that can emerge in the privacy of the voting booth," Welch says.

"I think his success so outraged the French because France has Europe's third-largest Jewish population, as well as a history of anti-Semitism to which the French government and people are very sensitive," he says.

He adds, however, that this election "should not be the immediate concern of Americans, since Le Pen almost certainly will lose the run-off election."

Liana Vardi, associate professor of history, agrees, calling Le Pen's success a fluke and "the unfortunate result of an overconfident political left that wanted to 'send a message' to France's socialist prime minister, Lionel Jospin, by voting Green or for another splinter Left party, in the first election round."

"They now have learned a very painful lesson," she says. "This is a wake-up call to the government and to the political left, and I believe it will be heeded."

She says that Le Pen, who is demanding more prison beds, an expanded police force with new powers and an end to immigration, speaks to people's fears about growing violence and unemployment that the government has not addressed head-on.

He has done so, she says, by appealing to racism and xenophobia. "Le Pen got 15 percent of the vote in the last election and 17 percent this round—enough to get him to the second ballot, but not enough to demonstrate a great shift to the extreme right by French voters," says Vardi.

"The drawback of his making it this far is that he will get equal time on television and will be very visible" until the run-off election is held on Sunday.

In spite of the furious call-to-arms Le Pen's showing has provoked in left-to-center politicians across Europe, Vardi says there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Jacques Chirac will win the election, despite several charges of corruption related to his tenure as mayor of Paris.

She points to an editorial in the French left daily, Liberation, that urged the French to vote for "the crook and not for the fascist," and to television interviews with left-wing voters that indicate that they will indeed rally to Chirac, however reluctantly.

"There has been a lot of discussion in the press about mounting anti-Semitism and demands that the government take it seriously," Vardi says.

"It seems to be coming out of the suburbs, rather than fascist skin-head groups associated with the far right and is an inappropriate, to say the least, extension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict onto home-ground."

While Le Pen's success in this election will be short-lived, one thing Americans should keep an eye on, according to Welch, is the recent success of right-wing political parties in Norway, Italy, Denmark and Portugal that may be seen again in the upcoming Dutch and German elections.

"Le Pen represents something larger than himself—the underlying streak of racism that exists in nations throughout Europe. Even though now it does not have widespread popular support, it could be a threat to civil liberty," he says.

"If moderate governments were to react to the activities of the right wing by clamping down on free expression everywhere, they would sorely test the limits of free speech.

"I want to stress, however," Welch adds, "that Europe is a made up of mature, responsible societies that certainly will deal with the far right and its activities in a reasonable way."

He says the current rise in support for the European right wing is due in part to the fact that Europe—including France—has a higher rate of unemployment than the U.S., and many Europeans blame North African and Turkish immigrants for taking jobs away from native Europeans.