Ɖ Gardịn vy on Marine Le Pen’z srj: alarmbelz rñ
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Guardian on Wednesday 6 April 2022)
Emmanuel Macron z stl ɖ lîcli winr v ɖs munʈ’z preẓdnśl ilex́n. Bt h wl nīd ɖ s’port v ɖ left
Wnzde 6 Epril 2022
In hr prîzwinñ memwar Ɖ Yirz, ɖ oʈr Annie Ernaux rcōld ɖ c’lectiv panic on ɖ Frenć left in 2002, ẃn Jean-Marie Le Pen unixpctidli md it t ɖ runof in ɖt yir’z preẓdnśl ilex́n. “Bfr w hd tîm t ʈnc,” ś rout, “w wr swept intu ɖ frenzi v a masmoḅlîześn t sev Frenć dmocṛsi.” A hesṭli asmbld rpublicn frunt enśurd ɖt Jacques Chirac, ɖ sntŗît canddet fr ɖ Élysée, wún an oṿẃlmñ 82% v ɖ vot in ɖ secnd rǎnd. Pṛgresiv votrz hld ɖer nozz n dd ɖ nesṣri. Az Mz Ernaux pt it: “Betr a vot ɖt stncs ɖn a vot ɖt cilz.”
Tū decedz lêtr, it sīmz lîcli ɖt Emmanuel Macron wl nīd t rlî on a similr spirit in ɖs munʈ’s preẓdnśl ilex́n. Aftr a slo n frax́s start t Marine Le Pen’z campen, poulz nǎ sjst ś hz a gd ćans v aćivñ ɖ faŗît’s bst ilex́n rzult sins hr faɖr fǎndd ɖ Front National in 1972. Wn rīsnt srve plest hr onli ʈri psntijpônts bhnd Mr Macron in a ptnśl secnd-rǎnd runof. In a nyzpepr coḷm dzînd az an rjnt wec-up cōl, ɖ formr Frenć prîm̦inistr Manuel Valls rout last wīcend: “It’s wn minit t midnît … Marine Le Pen cd b ilectd prezidnt v ɖ rpublic.”
Ɖt dîr ǎtcm – ẃć wd hv sêizmic consiqnsz fr Yṛp at a tîm v multipl crîsīz – rmenz unlîcli. Ɖ poulz hv tîtnd partli bcz ɖ bǎns Mr Macron injoid aftr hiz dipḷmatic eḟts ovr Ycren hz sbsîdd, bt h stl injôz a cumftbl līd in most. N ẃl ɖ tbu on votñ fr ɖ faŗît mt nt cari ɖ fors it dd in 2002, it stl xists: in wn srve, 50% v Frenć votrz sd ɖe wd nvr vot fr Mz Le Pen. Nvɖles, cmperd wɖ 2017, ẃn ś wz hymilietd bî Mr Macron in dbet n lost ɖ secnd-rǎnd vot bî a 66% t 34% marjin, ś hz m’mntm, n vîtl factrz hv alînd in hr fevr.
Ɖ obsesiv Izlaṃfobia n resizm v Mz Le Pen’z faŗît rîvl, ɖ teḷviźn p’leṃsist Éric Zemmour, hz alaud hr t preznt hrslf az ɖ modṛt fes v naśṇlizm. Īvn mor importntli, a stṛtījic stumpfoc̣s on ɖ icoṇmi n ɖ cost-v-livñ crîsis – ɖ numbr wn cnsrn fr Frenć votrz – hz pruvd spectaklrli wel-tîmd n trboćarjd ɖs rībrandñproses. Ẃl Mr Macron z dtrmind t rêz ɖ pnśn ej t 65 n tufn p welféŗūlz, Mz Le Pen hz sd ś wl alǎ rtîrmnt at 60 n plejd t incris ɖ prć̣sñpǎr v ɖ les wel of. Lrcñ in ɖ bacgrǎnd, ɖ faŗît asṗreśnz at ɖ hart v Mz Le Pen’z program rmen az dvîsiv n dscriṃnetri az evr. Radicl anti-imigṛnt pṛpozlz n ny bordrcntrolz wd ples Frans in conflict wɖ YY lw, n a plej t pṛtct “ɖ compziśn n îdntti v ɖ Frenć ppl” ćanlz ɖ asumśnz v ẃît-rplesmnt ʈiyri. Bt ś hz larjli parct ɖ toxic stuf ofstej, s’xesḟli wîḍnñ hr apil n norṃlîzñ hr poḷtics.
A far closr rês mīnz ɖt f Súnde’z frst-rǎnd vot dz dlivr anɖr hed-t-hed runof btwn Mr Macron n Mz Le Pen, ɖ prezidnt wl b rlaynt on ɖ left’s vots t win it. Bt olmst haf ɖ hard-left s’portrz v ɖ ʈrd-plest canddet, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, hv sd ɖe wd absten instd. Sm sntŗît votrz hv mnẃl indcetd ɖe wd opt fr Mz Le Pen. Cmperd wɖ 2002, n īvn 2017, ɖ tṛdiśnl rpublicn frunt z ɖus lcñ denjṛsli batrd n bruzd. Bt gvn ɖ oʈoṛterịn, zeṇfobc nećr v ɖ oltrṇtiv, it z crūśl fr Frans n fr Yṛp ɖt it holdz.
