Populism: François Hollande calls for an “examination of conscience”

François Hollande may not have all the solutions to counter the rise of populism and radical rights in Western democracies like his, but after three decades of active politics, he is starting to have a good idea of ​​what doesn't work. not.

Demonizing its standard bearers, for example, is completely counterproductive, believes the former French president, who once again became a socialist deputy for the first constituency of Corrèze following the legislative elections last summer and who is passing through Montreal these days.

The popularity of these political options, which he considers harmful, stems among other things from the fact that, according to him, the powers in place – in France, the United States and elsewhere in the world – have until now been incapable of responding adequately meets the expectations of the population.

We all bear responsibility for it, he explained on Friday in an interview on the show 24•60 : political parties, because they must reform and consolidate; the media, because they must also know [comment] address citizens; associations; unions. Everyone must examine their conscience.

Progressives in particular must be able to question themselves, according to the “deputy president” Hollande, who has just published a book on this subject entitled The challenge of governing; the left and power, from the Dreyfuss affair to the present day.

Recognized as a moderate in the French political landscape, where Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) occupies an increasingly important place, François Hollande notes that invectives launched at the far right often turn against those who uttered them.

According to his analysis, many Americans who voted for Donald Trump – everyone who feels bad [la] Companyhe said – identified with the Republican candidate because of his anti-elite speech, despite the fact that as a billionaire, the president-elect of the United States could also be placed in this category.

This is why the mistake of Kamala Harris, and even of Joe Biden, was to attack Trump by saying that he was a fascist, explains Mr. Hollande. People who were potential Trump voters [se sont dits] : “It’s not him we [critique]it’s us.”

And it works in France toodeplores Mr. Hollande. If the latter ensures thatthere are reasons to attack Marine Le Pen or the president of her party, Jordan Bardella, do it with excesswith excess or with violence risks causing the opposite of the desired effect, he asserts.

[Les dirigeants du RN] will say: “You see, it is these elites, these right-thinking people, these Parisians, all those who live in comfort, who want us to change our lifestyles. They attack us, but in fact, they want you damage, they want to erase you from life.”

The former French president, who retains a certain influence in progressive circles in his country, believes that the left must address this problem.

It's a message […] that I myself support for socialists and social democrats: address all the people, not take this or that minority or this or that category. Address the whole and find an element that unites us, that unites us, that makes us proud, so that we can move forward together.

François Hollande crossed the Atlantic to participate in an event organized Thursday by the Davies firm in Montreal. He also spoke behind closed doors with Prime Minister François Legault on Friday afternoon. His last visit was in 2014, when he was decorated with the National Order of Quebec by Philippe Couillard.

According to opinion polls, Mr. Hollande remains to this day one of the French people's favorite politicians, even if he left the Élysée reluctantly, pushed out by the left wing of his party. and by his former Minister of the Economy, Emmanuel Macron, who succeeded him in May 2017.

His name often comes up in discussions surrounding the next French presidential election, which should theoretically take place in 2027. If he does nothing to silence the rumors, the main person concerned assures in all his interviews that he does not not necessarily consider returning to the Élysée.

If I can be part of the solution, yes, but there may be others, he mentions. I must work towards a collective solution and not necessarily always put myself first.

Aftercontinues Mr. Hollande, I often say [que] the presidential election is a meeting. It's not you who decide, it's the citizens who decidehe concludes.