• @PugJesus
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    18018 days ago

    Macron was bailed out by cooperation from the left-wing, and now he wants to play fuckwad games. How predictable. I hope they ream his ass out for trying this.

    • @barsquid
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      3517 days ago

      This deserves a riot. Hopefully the public sets him straight. I wish our own public would flip cars over politicians’ lies and anti-citizen rulings.

      • @PugJesus
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        717 days ago

        The alternative here would have been to let the far-right win.

        The issue isn’t that the left did cooperate with liberals to prevent fascism. That’s wholly laudable. One simply shouldn’t expect one’s enemies to be anything except temporary allies against worse foes (and I’m not accusing the French left of naivety here, mind, they probably understood and are prepared for this scenario).

  • sukotai
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    17718 days ago

    bullshit : i’m french. there is NO chaos at all. Just political entertainement as usual.

    • @TankovayaDiviziya
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      17 days ago

      I’m amazed that “chaos” there in France is more like “normal”. I remember some riots that happened couple of years ago and one commenter said France might verge into collapsing. I thought to myself that those who think that are not aware how France works, and rioting is a tradition since the French Revolution.

      • sukotai
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        3117 days ago

        riots may happen in france, but for what is mention in the post, there is absolutely no riot, no chaos or anything else. It’s just a political event without consequence.

        • @TankovayaDiviziya
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          517 days ago

          I know. But I mean any political mess in France, riots or not, is seen as severe by outsiders but aren’t aware how things work in France.

          However, I admit that the situation in Mayotte is in a completely different context and unprecedented for overseas French territory.

        • @[email protected]
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          217 days ago

          This is a weird thing to not riot over from my perspective. You guys are being couped. But I guess that’s how they can get away with this, is no one really cares who’s in charge. Same thing happened to us in the 2000’s election and as long as the coup is all according to the process or seems legal, or political, no one does anything.

          • @iamthewalrus
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            216 days ago

            When people riot over pensions or living conditions it’s because it affects them directly. Here it’s just squabbling over who gets to sit in the PM’s chair. Not surprising nobody wants to riot over which unlikable politician gets a promotion.

      • @AnUnusualRelic
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        117 days ago

        It’s still riots. But on TV and with ties on.

      • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
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        17 days ago

        Literally every time I’ve been to France there has been a riot. Edit: actually that’s not true, one of the times I was there it was only a riot watch, they were waiting for sentencing in some trial of righty separatists.

    • @Wogi
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      3217 days ago

      Not even a crumb of chaos? A morsel of mischief? Perhaps a scrap of sabotage?

      • @Grabthar
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        2317 days ago

        Not so much as a shred of shenanigans.

        • @Wogi
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          817 days ago

          Un peu de pagaille? Quelque chose de chienlit?

    • @Noodle07
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      115 days ago

      Political embarrassment rather

  • @[email protected]
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    7618 days ago

    I know fuck all about French politics, but it seems strange that he doesn’t just appoint the candidate from the left. It sounds like it’s a fucked up non-functional situation, so he should just let them try to do the impossible and then fail. He’s probably worried that she might actually succeed and is holding out hope for some way to cobble together something as close as possible to the centrist coalition that shit the bed in the first place.

    • @Carrolade
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      5318 days ago

      Agreed. His excuse rings a little hollow. If there would be a no confidence vote, so be it. Give the left their PM, and if they get thrown out, then move forward with your compromise candidate.

      • Rimu
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        3218 days ago

        If the candidate from the largest coalition can’t survive a no confidence vote then I don’t see how any other candidate would.

        • @Carrolade
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          217 days ago

          Usually its less about group membership and more about individual positions on individual issues. Usually anyway. You’d think there’d be at least someone from either the left or center that the other would find more amenable due to having a few things in common with the other one.

    • @TankovayaDiviziya
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      -317 days ago

      but it seems strange that he doesn’t just appoint the candidate from the left.

      From which part of the left? The New Popular Front is actually an amalgamation of broad left wing coalition of various parties. So Macron had to pick from the far-left communist leader Jean Luc Melenchon, or from the centre left Socialist party led by Olivier Faure.

      The French legislative assembly works very differently compared to US Congress or the parliamentary system. There isn’t really one, or two, or only five parties getting votes. The French system is much more pluralistic and it is more like a hodge podge of various parties forming a grand coalition that represents an ideology. Even the current French president Emmanuel Macron’s so-called “party”, Ensemble, is a coalition of centrist parties.

      If you want to find out more about France’s current deadlock, here is a good succinct video explaining it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Q5nCCF5ck

        • @TankovayaDiviziya
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          -217 days ago

          I didn’t know that, thanks for letting me know. However, it seems Lucie herself had previously rejected forming a coalition with Macron’s group according to the Wikipedia article.

          • @[email protected]
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            1017 days ago

            She’s literally in the thumbnail of this post. You didn’t even have to read the article, just the caption on the headlining picture. But thanks for telling us what you read on Wikipedia instead of reading the article you’re commenting on.

            • @jorp
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              517 days ago

              This is why headline wording can be so important. People will just project their own biased understanding and skip the details.

              Oh Hamas rejected the ceasefire deal again…

          • @jorp
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            517 days ago

            That’s fair it was all the way in the article you’re commenting on

  • @njm1314
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    4918 days ago

    It’s amazing all the credit we gave him for that snap election decision is being completely erased.

    • @Viking_Hippie
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      3518 days ago

      Well it’s not like he deserved any of that credit in the first place 🤷

    • Vanon
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      3017 days ago

      I thought people credited Macron with the error and poor timing of the election. But credited the French voters with saving the election (against the far right and polling, quickly uniting with a practical strategy).

  • @PumpkinSkink
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    4816 days ago

    Hey! It’s the part where the “centrists” betray the left and cede power to the facists! Damn. You’d think someone would write a new script or something.

    • Angry_Autist (he/him)
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      -716 days ago

      So fucking tired of world shaking events always having a played out joke as the top comment.

      • @SmilingSolaris
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        1716 days ago

        If only world shaking events weren’t always the same mistakes as before. Then we wouldn’t be able to use the same jokes.

    • @[email protected]
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      516 days ago

      AFAIK he’s not talking to RN either, and if you look at actual parties and not groups then RN is the strongest party. It looks more like he’s trying to break the NFP to get the support of some of the parties like social democrats or greens, because in such a coalition his party would be the strongest. In a coalition with RN his party wouldn’t be the strongest and would have a hard time claiming the prime minister position.

  • @samus12345
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    3017 days ago

    Time to break out a uniquely French solution?

    • Melllvar
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      416 days ago

      Ask Robespierre how that works out in the end.

  • @[email protected]
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    2318 days ago

    The president had hoped consultations would break the political deadlock caused by the election that left the Assemblée Nationale divided into three roughly equal blocks – left, centre and far right – none of which has a majority of seats.

    So, in parliamentary systems – which, for these purposes, France is similar to – typically this is dealt with via multiple factions making concessions to each other and forming a coalition. Is that an option?

    kagis

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/09/french-government-risks-no-confidence-motion-as-leaders-rule-out-coalitions

    France’s aversion to coalitions means any new government risks early collapse

    In France, however, political leaders from left and right have lined up to rule out a coalition government after Sunday’s snap election produced a parliament of three roughly equal blocs – none with a majority, and all with wildly differing platforms.

    Well.

      • palordrolap
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        617 days ago

        If that’s what I think it is, we use “skid marks” as a euphemism in English too.

  • acargitz
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    17 days ago

    So call a second election. The people will solve the impasse. Either a majority emerges or eventually the parties, exhausted by campaigning, will learn to compromise and make a coalition. Democracy will find a way.

    • @AnUnusualRelic
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      2817 days ago

      will learn to compromise and make a coalition

      Lol. You’re new to French politics?

      • @UnderpantsWeevil
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        17 days ago

        French Unity is when deGaulle has you dragged out back and shot for disagreeing.

        • @AnUnusualRelic
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          917 days ago

          Only in the colonies, so that was allowed!

      • Tiefling IRL
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        17 days ago

        How are your trash cans looking? Are any of them on fire yet? Y’all really know how to protest

        • @AnUnusualRelic
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          1617 days ago

          I expect that as a random US person, coming onto a native, you have at least spent some university time on European political systems to have some arguments?

          1. the constitution doesn’t allow for another election
          2. there’s actually never been such a situation in this constitution (yes, our constitutions are just laws, not gods given sacred scrolls, so we change them whenever they’re no longer adequate), and the current politicians cannot fathom working without a majority (although that was typical in the third and fourth republic, and in a lot of the other euro countries)
          3. the president wants a so called “technical” government that will just do as it’s told while the chambers fight among themselves

          And yes, it’s a shitshow. Shall we go back to how you’re about to elect an insane game show host along with a guy that’s had half his brain eaten by a worm?

          • @Snowclone
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            317 days ago

            Trump has no hope next to Harris, Biden stepping down has been the smartest move I’ve seen from Democrats since runnng Obama, people are energized, no one wants the other confused old guy.

            • @AnUnusualRelic
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              417 days ago

              That’s what many people hope for. But then it’s the US, so anything goes.

          • @Triasha
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            216 days ago

            To be fair to us, the brain worm guy dropped out.

          • @[email protected]
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            117 days ago

            Could you explain please why another election is not allowed in France? I though Macron dissolved the parliament early for a new election, which brought us to this situation in the first place.

            • @AnUnusualRelic
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              417 days ago

              The constitution says that you can only do it once a year. Which makes sense as you have to deal with the stupid decisions you make.

          • @UnderpantsWeevil
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            17 days ago

            Shall we go back to how you’re about to elect an insane game show host

            Hey now. There’s slightly over a 50% chance we get the coconut lady, instead.

      • acargitz
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        317 days ago

        As a Greek I have some familiarity. Our politics is just as adversarial (if not more) and there is no tradition of coalitions. But when push came to shove, they figured it out, if only for a bit.

        • @AnUnusualRelic
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          417 days ago

          While Greece was arguably mismanaged, it didn’t deserve the harshness it got. But the same political mess could well be in the future of France.

    • @Rekhyt
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      17 days ago

      The parties aren’t the problem. Macron holds the presidency and appoints the PM. The largest (coalition) party is giving him a candidate AFTER compromises and he’s refusing STILL because he only wants a PM from his own party, who came in second (edit: not third, my bad, they did beat National Rally. They did come in third in the first round of voting though).

      • @AnUnusualRelic
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        17 days ago

        Macron holds the presidency and appoints the PM.

        The big debate is on whether he “appoints” the PM or “picks” the PM.

        The constitution doesn’t exactly specify which, and usage was that he would appoint the one issued from the majority vote (but there’s no majority, there’s just one group that’s a wee bit larger). So he’s having his fun, pretending to have a chat with everybody, while knowing all the time that they can really all fuck off and the he’ll do as he pleases.

        In the end he’ll most likely have what they call a “technical” government made of non political ministers that will just do as they’re told, because the chambers will be too busy infighting to do anything about it.

      • acargitz
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        17 days ago

        It sounds like the candidate PM would not have the confidence of the Assembly though because the center doesn’t want to play ball with the left and the left doesn’t have a majority.

        That’s why I’m suggesting elections. Keep going until either a majority is elected (in which case I assume the president is obligated to appoint its leader) or the parliamentary math changes.

        If Macron and the center are serious about keeping the cordon sanitaire against the far right, they should obviously play ball with the left. The fact that they are not tells me that they are not serious. The left should be able to make that argument to the electorate and hope to convince a majority.

        Edit: not only is Macron showing lack of seriousness in keeping the far right at bay, he is also undermining the legitimacy of the presidency by playing parliamentary shenanigans and triggering such a constitutional crisis. I never really understood the fundamentals of France’s semi-presidential system, but in a parliamentary republic like Germany, or Ireland, or Greece for example, the president does not get to play politics with the parliament’s confidence like this. I don’t understand why the French think this is a good system.

        • Tiefling IRL
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          1217 days ago

          Why the fuck are centrists and right wingers always holding hands to prevent any kind of leftist power?

          Oh right, money

    • @cley_faye
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      817 days ago

      the parties, exhausted by campaigning, will learn to compromise and make a coalition

      Good luck with that.

    • @AnUnusualRelic
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      817 days ago

      Not possible, there’s a one year delay.

      • acargitz
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        317 days ago

        God damn it, De Gaulle really screwed you guys over, eh?

        • @AnUnusualRelic
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          1417 days ago

          You can’t repeatedly dissolve the chamber. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

          The real problem isn’t with the constitution. It’s with the fact that the French are no longer able to create coalitions around a project. The whole political system is built around the idea that one group has a majority and does as it pleases until the next election. Talking to others is completely alien to them. And that is a real problem.

          Most of the other European countries work with coalitions. It makes much more sense (I understand that this is alien to US people).

          • @UnderpantsWeevil
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            317 days ago

            Most of the other European countries work with coalitions. It makes much more sense

            Eh. Post WW2 European “coalitions” are largely just iterations of the modern Democratic Party subdivided by region and cultural touchstone. There isn’t a huge ideological gap between German Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists, Free Democrats, and Greens, for instance. The real divide is between East and West, and that’s where you get a rump AfD that grew out of the corpse of GDR Communists.

            Similarly, Macron’s En Marche party is itself this coalition of French business interests that are terrified of Melanchon and conservative nationalists who don’t sit well with LePen’s National Front. He’s synthesized a position between his old boss Hollande’s champagne socialism and Sarkozy’s moderate business friendly white nationalism. But now all the half measures have dried up his base of support.

            Spain’s government is similarly bifricated along lines that go back to the civil war of the 1930s. Italy’s is a hogpodge of parties that are still strictly aligned with the industrial north or rural south. You can repeat this pattern across the entire continent. Yeah, a multi-party system exists, but the coalitions are ultimately all defined by their relationships to international business. Are you the finance friendly international markets party or are you the angry proletarian outsiders?

            The social policies of the parties might vary based on whether the base is liberally cosmopolitan or conservatively rural. But the root of the divide always comes down to questions of profit.

          • @[email protected]
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            117 days ago

            As a Dutch voter (who voted left) I’m happy with the coalition in the Netherlands if compared to a theoretical where the far-right party PVV rules alone shudder

    • Moah
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      217 days ago

      But then he risks losing again.

    • @Wogi
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      417 days ago

      Sacrebleu!

  • @[email protected]
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    1716 days ago

    "Chaos in France"

    Just… Can these people exercise any restraint when it comes to sensationalist headlines?

    • @Tattorack
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      816 days ago

      “Chaos in France” doesn’t really mean much either. As far as France is concerned that’s just a normal day.

  • MrsDoyle
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    716 days ago

    I hate headlines like this. There is no “chaos”. A bunch of politicians are arguing and having meetings. Bureaucracy chunters along as usual. Paralympics are happening.

    If the politicians were having shootouts in the Champs Elysées and disrupting traffic then yes, a bit of chaos in Paris. But they’re not. Sigh.

    • @xenoclast
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      316 days ago

      Yeah, It’s fucking France. People set fire to police cars because it’s Tuesday. This is not a big deal.

      It’s the Guardian so you get what you expect. Inflammatory headlines for clicks.

      • MrsDoyle
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        115 days ago

        It’s sooo clickbaity - I didn’t even click because I knew how boring the actual story would be.

  • @febra
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    318 days ago

    “Democracy” at work.

  • @febra
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    -1217 days ago

    So he’s pulling a Maduro. No kind of interest paid to the first place party, but I guess we won’t hear any neolibs complain about that.

    • @PugJesus
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      817 days ago

      So he’s pulling a Maduro.

      Oh, I didn’t realize he was falsifying elections. You do have a reason for accusing Macron of that, right, and aren’t just throwing around accusations to try to lessen the seriousness of Maduro’s actions, right?

      • @febra
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        -1317 days ago

        He’s straight up ignoring the will of the people, so it’s pretty much the same shit to me. A wanna be dictator throwing rocks in the wheels of democracy just because he doesn’t like the election results. Same thing could be said about Macron.

        • @PugJesus
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          1217 days ago

          so it’s pretty much the same shit to me.

          Jesus fucking Christ.