Macron and Le Pen projected to contest French election run-off
* * *
Voting took place amid heightened security in the first election under France’s state of emergency.No matter who becomes France’s next president, dirty business as usual will likely triumph – like in all US elections, other Western ones and most others elsewhere. Rare exceptions prove the rule.
Last November, choice for Americans was between death by hanging or firing squad. French voters face the same dilemma.
On
election eve, over one-fourth of the electorate was undecided, more
concerned about jobs and the economy (pocketbook issues) than terrorism.
Many believe presidential aspirants are largely the same each time elections are held, no matter what they say campaigning.
Large numbers may vote with their feet and stay home, or go places other than to polling stations.
Hyperbole
about Sunday’s election being one of the most consequential in recent
times was way overblown. Calling the outcome unpredictable is right. Polls show it’s too close to call.
Anyone
of four aspirants could win – Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron likely
to be finalists in the May 7 runoff. Yet a surprise April 23 outcome is
possible.
One voter said “France is divided in four. Whatever the result, three-fourths of the people will not be happy.”
Political/opinion
research firm director Edouard Lecerf believes “(t)he mistrust of
politicians is stronger than it has ever been.”
Given
how deplorably ordinary people are treated no matter who holds top
political posts, it’s clear voting is a waste of time accomplishing
nothing – privileged interests served exclusively at the expense of most
others.
Neocon/CIA-connected Washington Post editors support dirty business as usual in all elections – in America and abroad, saying:
“The
mere possibility that…far-rightist Marine Le Pen and far-leftist
Jean-Luc Melenchon…will be the country’s choice in the second round
ought to be heart-stopping for anyone who hopes the West’s core liberal
values (sic) will survive the wave of popular discontent that already
has driven Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, as well as the
election of Donald Trump.”
WaPo
supports Macron, Francois Hollande’s deplorable economy, industry and
digital affairs minister, an establishment favorite, a wealthy globalist
supporting dirty business as usual.
What’s
good for business is bad for the masses, so you know what he favors,
hardline anti-democratic rule – WaPo’s favorite, calling him France’s
“best choice” for president.
Its
editors blasted Le Pen and Melenchon, saying they’re “anti-American and
soft on Russia’s Vladimir Putin…likely to destroy the European Union…”
It’s
in crisis, a sinking ship, self-destructing – troubled Greece the
future of other EU states, notably Italy, Portugal and Spain, maybe
France and others to follow.
Expect
continuity no matter who succeeds Francois Hollande. Longtime French
foreign policy analyst Alain Gresh believes France under any leader has
“limited impact…on the management of Middle East foreign policy today” –
unlike decades earlier.
He
calls Le Pen slightly more pro-Israel” than other candidates. She’s
concerned about radical Islamic militants and politicians, not Jews, so
it’s unclear “how things would unfold” if she’s elected.
Her
views are similar but not identical to Francois Fillon on Islamism.
Melenchon calls for resolving Middle East conflicts diplomatically. He
supports Palestinian rights.
Le Pen is conciliatory toward Assad, calling him a protector of secular rights, including Syria’s Christian minority.
Whoever’s
elected would have to focus on “big economic interests,” Gresh stressed
– linking France with America, other European countries and Arab Gulf
ones.
He’s
unsure who’ll emerge as May 7 runoff aspirants. At the end of the day,
things could change but stay largely the same – the way most elections
turn out.
The original source of this article is Global Research
Copyright © Stephen Lendman, Global Research, 2017
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