#the national assembly has been dissolved as well

[alaynnah]

Well. Looks like the french far right won the european elections. Hope our politicians will finally reassess their awfull decisions from the past years and have better programs for the next presidential elections.

[chlochette-sunde]

So, the French government just got revoked.

What happened in the previous episodes?

French presidential elections are held in two rounds. Any candidate supported by at least 500 mayors can participate in the first round. The two candidates with the most votes then face off in a second round.

Twice, President Macron has been elected thanks to votes cast against his opponent in the second round: far-right candidate Marine Le Pen. Both times, Macron promised centrist policies (neither left nor right) but ultimately implemented very liberal policies benefiting primarily the wealthiest in the country. He also used far-right tactics to “pacify” strikes and social movements, like the Yellow Vests protests and the controversial pension reform.

Last June, European elections were held to elect new Members of the European Parliament, using a single-round voting system. In France, over 70% of voters participated in the 2022 presidential elections, but only around 50% turned out for the 2024 European elections.

And the result? A political earthquake.

For the first time, the far-right party came in first, securing 30% of the votes.

Following this shocking result, President Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly. This is within the French President's powers, but no one understood why he did it—it seemed like political suicide. With the far-right's surge in the European elections, it was reasonable to expect them to gain ground in the legislative elections as well.

Yet Macron went ahead, and legislative elections were scheduled with less than three weeks’ notice.

Surprisingly, the left-wing parties managed to unite under one banner: the New Popular Front (NFP). This was no small feat, as these parties often clash over priorities—ranging from left-wing liberals and ecologists to communists and the “insubordinates”.

Since October 2023, the latter group had been outspoken in their defense of Palestine, which led to accusations of antisemitism and then earned the NFP labels like “far-left extremists” from the far-right, the media, and even the government.

It seemed hopeless. Everything appeared stacked against the left, and many feared the country would fall into the far-right's hands.

The results

More than 70% of the eligible voters participated, a high turnout compared to the 2022 legislative elections (54%) and the 2024 European elections, especially considering the short notice and timing just before the summer holidays.

In the end, the far-right gained 142 seats (an increase of 53). However, the NFP surprised everyone by winning 193 seats (42 more than before) and emerging as the election's victors.

The new National Assembly looked like this:

193 seats for the left-wing (NFP)

166 seats for Macron's party

142 seats for the far-right

47 seats for the traditional right-wing party

This distribution left no single party with an absolute majority.

Under these circumstances, Macron was expected to appoint a Prime Minister capable of building a government that could pass laws in the National Assembly. Traditionally, the Prime Minister is aligned with the majority party in the Assembly.

Instead, Macron refused to name a left-wing Prime Minister, fearing such a government would be unstable due to the lack of an absolute majority. He delayed the decision until after the Olympic Games, and in early September, he appointed a Prime Minister from the traditional right-wing party—which holds a minority in the Assembly.

The first major test for this government was the 2025 budget. While the government initially proposed a strict austerity budget, the NFP successfully amended it to reflect their priorities. The government, having abstained from participating in the discussions, ultimately voted against the amended version, sending the budget back for further debate.

Then, rather than resubmitting a revised budget to the Assembly, the government decided to impose it unilaterally, as allowed by the Constitution. However, this move automatically led the government to engage its responsibility. Two days later (today), the opposition in the National Assembly responded by holding a “no confidence” vote, ultimately revoking the government and canceling the budget. (If no 2025 budget is passed, the 2024 budget will roll over by default.)

How is the far-right doing?

When the new government was formed in September, the far-right party chose not to immediately revoke it. Their strategy was to pressure the government into proposing laws aligned with far-right ideas. While initially successful, this approach backfired: the far-right quickly came to be seen as part of the establishment, losing their “outsider” status, which hurt their image.

Meanwhile, the far-right party is embroiled in a major legal scandal. They are accused of misusing public funds intended for hiring parliamentary assistants, instead diverting the money to party-related expenses (like bodyguards and so on). A verdict is expected in March 2025, and their leader, Marine Le Pen, faces the possibility of a 5-year ineligibility.

What happens next?

President Macron must now appoint a new Prime Minister to form a government. However, given his unpredictability, it’s possible he might try to keep the current government in place until he’s legally allowed to dissolve the Assembly again—one year after the last dissolution.

The left-wing is calling for Macron to resign, which would trigger new presidential elections. Due to their actual troubles with justice, anticipated presidential elections could also be an opportunity for the far-right party. While the National Assembly has the power to vote for the President’s resignation, the conditions to do so are difficult to meet.

And that’s the current state of French politics.

[mariacallous]

Last week, a popular radio host for the France Culture station, the humorist Guillaume Erner, confessed that he had had enough of the “Jewish question.”

“It seems to me there’s enough in the campaign platforms of the National Rally, France Unbowed, or any other party, so that we need not base our vote on the Jewish question,” he said. “More than weariness, I feel exhausted in the face of this daily Judeo-obsession, one which has become suffocating since Oct. 7.”

Erner is not just the genial voice on France’s flagship station; he is also a sociologist who teaches at the University of Paris, a scholar who studies antisemitism, and a member of a Jewish family decimated by the Holocaust.

The fact that even these credentials will not absolve Erner from charges of antisemitism underscores the resilience of the “Jewish question” in France. Galvanized by Hamas’s massacre of more than 1,000 Israelis last year, followed by the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli military invasion of Gaza, that question looms even larger following the European Parliament election, which was held in France on June 9. When the voting led to an overwhelming victory by the extreme-right National Rally party, President Emmanuel Macron made the disastrous decision to dissolve the National Assembly and schedule new elections less than three weeks later, on June 30.

Most surprising of all, perhaps, is that several prominent French Jews have publicly expressed a willingness to vote for the National Rally (RN)—a party with its roots in the National Front, a group founded by the openly antisemitic politician Jean-Marie Le Pen.

The Twenty Days of Macron—which will assume the same historical significance as the Hundred Days of his idol, Napoleon—are nearly up, yet the battlefield is not what the president had imagined. Macron had expected a resurgence of the same coalition he led in previous electoral campaigns, pitting the supposedly reliable “republican front” of socialist to neo-Gaullist parties against an outnumbered National Rally, the far-right party led by his perennial nemesis, Marine Le Pen.

Yet the RN, with its electoral ranks burgeoning with new recruits from both the right and left, now dwarfs Macron’s floundering Renaissance party. In the first round of voting this Sunday, the RN is projected to win slightly more than 36 percent, while coalition led by Renaissance will capture barely 20 percent.

Moreover, Macron must fight on not one, but two fronts. Running well ahead of his party in the projections, hovering at 30 percent, is the New Popular Front. The coalition was formed by a popular left-wing politician, François Ruffin, after Macron’s dissolution announcement.

In an appeal that went viral, he compared the current moment to 1936, when a confluence of social, political, and economic crises swept the original Popular Front into office. This coalition of the socialist, communist, and radical parties had been conceived two years earlier, birthed by a failed but bloody attempt by anti-republican and antisemitic forces to overthrow the government.

Invoking the name of Léon Blum, the French Jewish socialist who became the original Popular Front’s prime minister, Ruffin declared that just as the Popular Front defended the republic then, it could do so now. An extreme right-wing government, he affirmed, “is not inevitable!”

But it was no more inevitable that Ruffin’s rallying cry would succeed. The New Popular Front consists of the same parties—France Unbowed, the French Communist Party, the Ecologists, and the Socialist Party—that formed the doomed New Ecological and Social People’s Union after the 2022 legislative elections. Wobbly from the start, this earlier coalition fell to pieces last October, when events in Israel and Gaza heaved the “Jewish question” front and center across much of the world. But this was especially and painfully true in France, a nation whose collaborationist government had, three-quarters of a century earlier, assisted Nazi Germany’s Final Solution to that perennial question.

As a result, when France Unbowed parliamentarian Danièle Obono described Hamas as a “resistance movement,” a firestorm of outrage ensued. The party’s former leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, fed the widespread fury when he refused to describe the slaughter of Israeli civilians as an act of terrorism.

One month later, the conflagration destroyed the bridge between France Unbowed and its partners when Mélenchon and his close circle refused to participate in the march against antisemitism. Though their stated reason was the participation of Le Pen and her lieutenants in the march, it did not prevent the separation between France Unbowed and its partners from turning into a bitter divorce.

Mélenchon has since kept these fires burning, most recently with an observation made on his blog that antisemitism “remains residual” in France. In the face of the meteoric rise of antisemitic incidents in France—in 2023, more than 1,600 occurred, most of them after Oct. 7—Mélenchon’s remark reflected indifference at best and insouciance at worst.

After an appalling incident in a Paris suburb in mid-June—the alleged torture and rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl by three adolescents spewing antisemitic insults—Mélenchon quickly announced his “horror” over the crime while condemning “antisemitic racism.” But this was too little, too late for the legion of critics who insist that his words and silences contributed to the toxic atmosphere that made such a crime possible.

Those critics included a crucial member of the New Popular Front, Raphaël Glucksmann. He is the grandson of left-wing Zionists and militant labor organizers who emigrated to France from Eastern Europe between the wars, as well as the son of André Glucksmann, a leading member of the nouveaux philosophes, who pummeled their predecessors on the left for defending the crimes of Soviet communism.

The young and telegenic Glucksmann, after a career in journalism and filmmaking, entered French politics stage left, won a seat in the European Parliament earlier this month with a solid 14 percent of the national vote for his party—about the same that Macron’s grouping won—and now represents the last great hope of French socialism.

When the parties launched discussions over the formation of the New Popular Front, Glucksmann insisted on several conditions. He demanded that the joint statement include a message of unwavering support for Ukraine’s struggle against President Vladimir Putin’s Russia as well as for a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

Moreover, Glucksmann also stipulated that the statement contain a declaration that the Hamas massacre was, in fact, a terrorist attack, as well as a condemnation of antisemitism. He largely achieved these aims and, while acknowledging the hasty nature and difficult compromises that they entailed, he declared that they were necessary to prevent France, in a matter of days, from “sinking into the abyss.”

For the French Jewish community, the abyss long had just one name: the National Rally, formerly known as the National Front. They have not been persuaded by the long campaign pursued by Le Pen to de-demonize a party co-founded a little more than half a century ago by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen. The elder Le Pen was a Holocaust denier and antisemite, a worldview shared not only by his co-founder, Pierre Bousquet—who served during World War II as an officer in the Waffen SS—but also by the Nazi-curious and Vichy apologists in the movement’s ranks.

Since inheriting the National Front in 2011, the younger Le Pen has declared the Holocaust as the “summum of barbarism” and rebranded the party’s packaging by purging its ranks of its more embarrassing elements, including her father, and renaming it the National Rally. Yet the party’s original ingredients are largely untouched. Over the past few weeks, journalists have uncovered several RN candidates who have trolled or posted racist or antisemitic opinions online—prompting additional purges.

Yet this game of whack-a-troll obscures what the scholar Cécile Alduy calls the “ideological matrix” of the RN: the principle of national preference. This shared ideal of Le Pen père et fille, though the latter has renamed it “national priority,” would create a new category of second-class citizens. It would entail a constitutional amendment that would deny medical care and social services to undocumented immigrants, as well as deny automatic citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants who are born in France.

Not only would this law make the already desperate lives of tens of thousands of human beings in France yet more desperate—part of the law’s raison d’être—but would also make a mockery of the humanist and universalist heritage of French republicanism.

The RN’s worldview threatens not only those who are not yet French citizens, but also those who already are. Earlier this month, the party’s president and probably the country’s next prime minister, Jordan Bardella, reassured “French citizens of foreign origin” that they have nothing to fear from his government. The fact that he employed this phrase suggests that these same citizens have everything to fear.

As the columnist Thomas Legrand observed, this phrase not only has no legal standing, but also that the last time it did was in 1941, when the antisemitic legislation of the collaborationist Vichy regime distinguished French Jewish citizens from their non-Jewish compatriots. It was, moreover, one of the administrative steps taken by Vichy that facilitated the eventual deportation of more than 70,000 French (as well as foreign) Jews to the death camps.

Nevertheless, the prospect of a New Popular Front government dominated by France Unbowed has made what once seemed impossible—the rallying of French Jews to the National Rally—all too possible. During a campaign stop in Marseilles last week, Glucksmann was lambasted by a Jewish woman for his role in the coalition. “As a Jew, you should be ashamed of yourself!” He subsequently noted the irony that Jews are now practicing what antisemites have always practiced: “I was reduced to my name and origin.”

Yet more striking was a recent public statement made by Serge Klarsfeld, the universally admired Nazi hunter who wrote the definitive account of the Final Solution in France. Insisting that the National Rally had “evolved” and now “supports Jews,” whereas France Unbowed is a “resolutely anti-Jewish party,” he urged French Jews to vote for the former.

This was not a sudden or impulsive decision by Klarsfeld. Last fall, he welcomed the presence of the National Rally at the march against antisemitism, describing both it as “fréquentable” or respectable, thus rewarding Le Pen’s long courtship of the Jewish vote.

At the same time, the influential French Jewish intellectual Alain Finkielkraut, author of dozens of works, including the early and brilliant book The Imaginary Jew, confessed that to prevent the spread of antisemitism, he might be “constrained” to vote for the RN. The situation confronting French Jews, he observed, is “heartbreaking.”

No doubt it is. But it is also heartbreaking that such admired and prominent figures like Klarsfeld and Finkielkraut—both of whom should really know better—are now willing to vote, even if they hold their noses, for a party whose ideological roots are buried in the rancid soil of racism and antisemitism.

It also happens to be a party that has shown persistent admiration for Putin’s Russia, an enduring hostility to those who do not adhere to traditional gender norms, and an ongoing problem of running candidates who express sentiments that are as racist and antisemitic as the founders of the movement that spawned the National Rally, making the words of Klarsfeld and Finkielkraut yet more heartbreaking.

Most heartbreaking of all, though, is that regardless of the results of the second round of voting on July 7, the Jewish question in France will also persist.

[hel-phoenyx]

Okay okay so I kinda need to rant a bit so here's what's happening in France rn from my understanding.

After the European Parliament elections France saw a win from Rassemblement National (our far-right party created by a Nazi, and I'm not exxagerating no matter how much Marine Le Pen wants us to forget that) by a landslide. It beat even Macron's list by more than 10%, making it one of the most dangerous victories in history. Far-right is now even more prominent in Parliament (I think there's about 130 seats all far-right lists and countries combined but don't trust me on this).

It's a defeat for our asshole of a President but a very, very bitter and dangerous one. And what does he do when results are announced and his defeat to far-right is obvious?

HE DISSOLVES THE FUCKING NATIONAL ASSEMBLY. AT THE WORST MOMENT EVER.

So now, when France's far-right is at all-time high, when Reconquête (cartoonishly worse than RN) got more French seats than the ecologists, when everyone shits on left and far-left because our government and the media most listened to are at right we French people have to go back to the urns to form a new National Assembly. Which is worse than it looks because if RN comes out first Macron will be forced to choose his prime minister among the far-right party.

That means a far-right government even if Macron is still in power.

But why is he doing this, you ask. That's stupid. Well you're right. That's stupid. Several possibilities are on the table, one of them being he wants that electrochoc to make the french people wake up and make barrage (that means vote for him bc he's the far-right barrage president, that's his trademark). Or on the contrary, that he wants far-right to win and then not be able to do jack shit to demonstrate how incompetent they are.

That won't work. We had several examples throughout Europe history.

So now all of France that still is able to see their rights menaced is panicking, all left is trying to unite under a new Front Populaire for the elections (please let it work and not be like Melenchon's defeat at the presidentials) and everywhere I go on the news (notably HugoDecrypte's account) I see far-right bullshit on the comments from people who will vote.

So if you are French and afraid of that far-right uprising, I am begging you to go vote at the end of June. We need you as much as we need Front Populaire holding its grounds. This has rarely been a more dire situation.

[icharchivist]

if you want to know how the Left Party works in France, know that the big problem has always been the fact we have too many Lefty parties who are basically always dividing the votes and it's why we end up with the stupid situation we're in

but following a major winning victory from the far right on the European Elections and the even more baffling situation of "our "centrist" president just dissolved the assembly and intend on a snap vote to reassemble it" (meaning every laws that was being processed got thrown to the trash and it was done right after the Far Right proved itself to have a major hold on the country)

the Left reaction then have actually been to Band together even if they're disagreeing with one another to have a major barrage to the Far Right, people go in the street to sing about "The Youth says Fuck the Front National!"

... and now the step further is that the Swiftie fandom french account has been condicting a movement to make sure the swifties are going to promote the Left's alliance, them and Kpop stans have started to make FanCam of various Leftie political figures that they're spamming under tweets to remind people it's cool and hot to vote for the Left, and they're also spreading stuff like "well the far right just said BTS suck and you're going to vote for them??? Support BTS by voting the Left!"

so huh, yeah. That's one way to go about it.

[commercialroplants]

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[mynewshq]

2027: Labour Party’s presidential ticket no longer reserved for Peter Obi — Abure

The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party (LP), has thrown open the contest for all of its tickets for the 2027 general elections. This was sequel to its decision to nullify a resolution taken at the party’s national convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on March 27, 2024. The party had announced that its 2027 Presidential ticket and that of the Abia State Governorship, have been reserved for Mr. Peter Obi, and Alex Otti, respectively. The LP NEC meeting which was chaired by the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, resolved to jettison the arrangement at a meeting, in Abuja, yesterday. NEC also disowned the Senator Nanedi Usman-led 29 member Interim Committee set up to steer the affairs of the party for 90 days. The NEC resolution read in part: “NEC in session also reviewed the decision of the National Convention to reserve its Presidential and Governorship tickets for Peter Gregory Obi and Alex Otti respectively. “Consequently, all tickets of the party from Presidency to the House of assemblies are open to all qualified Nigerians. “The NEC in session after reviewing the purported Stakeholders meeting held in Umuaiha Abia State condemned the conveners of the meetings and thereafter disassociate itself from the outcome of the so-called stakeholders meeting in Umuaiha Abia State, where the National Working Committee, the National Executive Council, State Council, Local Government and Ward Executives of the party were purportedly dissolved and a so-called Caretaker Committee was set up. “The NEC in session note that the Governor of Abia State His Excellency Alex Otti who convened the meeting do not have the power within the Party’s Constitution as provided in Article 14 (4) (B) gives power to call meetings only to the National Secretary with the approval of National Chairman. “NEC in session further reiterate that Governor of Abia State do not even have the power to call his Ward Executive meeting without the approval and the consent of his Ward Chairman. “The meeting contravenes the provisions of Section 82 (1) (2) (a) of the Electoral Act 2022 which provides as follows: “82 (1) Every registered political party shall give the Commission at least 21 days’ notice of any Convention, Congress, Conference or meeting convened for the purpose of ‘merger’ and electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any of the elective offices specified under this Act. “(2) The Commission may, with or without prior notice to the political party attend and observe any convention, congress, conference or meeting which is convened by a political party for the purpose of – (a) electing members of its executive committees or other governing bodies “Article 17 of the Labour Party Constitution provides how members of the National Working Committee, State Executive Committee and all other officials of the party can be removed, For the avoidance of doubt, Article 17 of our Party Constitution provides as follows; “I. The National Chairman of the Party may be suspended or removed from office on a vote of No Confidence passed by at last two-thirds majority at a National Convention convened solely for the consideration only of such motion. “II. Any other National officer(s) of the Party may be removed by 2/3 majority of votes cast by members at a Convention or National Executives Council. “III. The State Officer(s) may be removed by 2/3 majority of votes by the State Congress. IV. The Local Government Officer(s) may be removed by 2/3 majority of votes cast by the LGA Congress. The LP NEC equally condemned in strong terms the conveners of the meeting in Abia State whom they alleged dwelt in illegality. It also threatened to take disciplinary action against them. While dissociating itself from the conveners as well as the outcome of the meeting, the NEC in session declared that there is no vacuum in the leadership of the Party. It noted that the national convention held in Nnewi, Anambra State, on March 27, 2024, was convened in accordance with laid down regulations as such the tenure of elected members of the National Working Committee The Party has conducted its National is still valid and that a court of competent jurisdiction has upheld it. The party urged the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, to desist from promoting illegality by claiming that Abure’s tenure had expired. The  NEC Meeting was attended by members of the National Working Committee, National officers of the party, State Chairmen and Secretaries, Stakeholders of the party and other co-opted members of the National Executive Council provided by Article 13 (A) of the Party Constitution. The resolutions were signed and made public by the party’s National Chairman and Secretary, Julius Abure ​​​​​and Alhaji Umar Farouk Ibrahim respectively. Read the full article

[tj-van-heerden]

Holiness.

2Cor 7:1 [WEB] Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Eph 4:23, 24 [WEB] and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

1Thess 3:13 [WEB] to the end he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Rom 12:1, 2 [WEB] Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Eph 1:4 [WEB] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love…

Eph 2:21, 22 [WEB] in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Eph 5:27 [WEB] that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.

Col 1:22 [WEB] yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him…

Col 3:12 [WEB] Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance…

1 Pet 1:15 [WEB] but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior…

1Pet 2:5 [WEB] You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Pet 2:9 [WEB] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Pet 3:5 [WEB] For this is how in the past, the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.

2 Pet 1:20, 21 [WEB] knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 Pet 2:21 [WEB] For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

2Pet 3:10, 11 [WEB] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness…

Jude 1:20, 21 [WEB] But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

Rev 20:6 [WEB] Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.

Rev 22:11, 12 [WEB] He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.” “Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.

[warningsine]

Speaking at a surprise address to the nation on Sunday evening, French president Emmanuel Macron told French citizens he had “decided to give [them] back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote”. These words, pronounced in reaction to the historic surge of the far-right National Rally at the European elections, triggered the dissolution of France’s parliament and snap elections on 30 June and 7 July. Clea Chakraverty of The Conversation France spoke to the French parliament specialist, Julien Robin, to understand what the decision could mean for French politics.

Clea Chakraverty: How can European results have such an impact on the French parliament?

Julien Robin: For a long time, the European vote was considered to be of “second order” – a term coined by political scientists Karlheinz Reif and Hermann Schmitt to describe the first European elections in 1979. These were elections that were not national, and in which voter turnout was often lower than in “first-order” elections.

However, since the 2014 European elections, voter turnout has been on the rise, at 42.43% – that’s 1.8 points higher than in 2009. This trend is confirmed by the 2024 ballot, which will have galvanised more voters than in 2019 (+2.5 points compared to the turnout of 50.12% in 2019). Turnout is now at its highest since the 1994 European elections.

Another element to have strengthened European elections is the 2019 reform of the voting system. Whereas deputies for the European elections in France were previously divided in eight regional electoral constituencies (see figure 1), the voting system now only comprises a single national constituency. This has allowed voters to better identify candidates as well as the issues at stake.

Above all, these elections have now become a referendum on Macron and an electoral springboard for political forces (notably the National Rally, the left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed, and even centrist Renaissance).

In recent days, we have been able to see the election take on a further national character through the format of television debates. Take, for example, the two-way debate between the far-right candidate Jordan Bardella and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, on 24 May, or Macron’s proposal to debate Marine Le Pen as part of the European elections campaign. These events echo the presidential election of 2022, or even give a possible foretaste of that of 2027.

When was the last time the French parliament was dissolved, and what does it tell us about the current state of French politics?

The last dissolution dates back to 1997 and was triggered by President Jacques Chirac. His intention was to breathe new life into the presidential majority in the National Assembly, which had been weakened by the mass demonstrations against the 1995 pension reform and the 1997 deficit reduction plans. At the time, the majority in the National Assembly was not strictly that of President Chirac. It had emerged from the 1993 elections, two years before he was elected head of state. By attempting to galvanise voters at the ballot box, Chirac’s decision would ultimately lead to the advent of the plural left, with a government led by Lionel Jospin.

Politically, the context was thorny for Macron, with a minority government in the National Assembly. To force through unpopular measures, the government has therefore had to increasingly rely on bypassing parliament by invoking article 49.3. Meanwhile, there have been increasing rumours of no confidence votes. Not to mention the explosion in the number of political groups in the National Assembly, of which there are now ten, which make it tricky for the government to obtain stable majorities for the vote on bills.

We can see Macron’s decision to dissolve the national assembly as true to form. The president, after all, loves disruption. The move can be interpreted as a show of power, giving back the voice to voters in the form of legislative elections.

What’s at stake now at the National Assembly?

One issue observers will be watching will be whether parliament comes out of the June 2024 elections as fragmented as in June 2022. Back then, the parliament’s resulting division in ten parliamentary groups was unprecedented for the Fifth Republic. The new structure will have a real impact on work flow at the Assembly.

For the political groupings, there are several issues at stake:

on the left: these elections will determine the new balance of power between the various stakeholders in the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (NUPES), France’s left-wing electoral alliance created in 2022 including France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the Communist Party (PCF), the Greens and other small parties. Clouds have been hanging over the alliance after France Unbowed refused to qualify Hamas as a terrorist group in October 2023. The European elections have now shifted power from France Unbowed to the social democrats, which have been boosted to third place. The Greens, on the other hand, have lost considerable support. As soon as the results were announced, their candidate, Marie Toussaint, as well as other leftwing figures called for discussions on a joint list.

for the RN: while in a secret poll commissioned by the Republicans in December 2023, the RN was predicted to have a majority in the event of early general elections, the real issue is whether the RN will succeed in coming to power by obtaining a real majority in the National Assembly, which is necessary to obtain the government’s confidence. The RN’s exceptional result in the European elections (16 points ahead of the current majority) is a real springboard for these early elections.

for Renaissance: at a time when the question of the post-Macron era has arisen as soon as he is re-elected in 2022, Renaissance will have to consider its political positioning and, above all, the possibility of forming electoral alliances with Les Républicains at local level. This could be a foregone conclusion, since Stéphane Séjourné, as SG of Renaissance, announced this evening to AFP that the majority “will not present a candidate” against outgoing MPs “who are part of the Republican field”.

The issue is that in seven years, the presidential party has gone from having the largest majority in the National Assembly under the Vᵉ Republic in 2017, to a relative majority in 2022, and then a possible move into opposition.

In addition, the challenge for the Republicans is to see whether the party will still remain a real national political force, knowing that it has just achieved its worst score in a European election, and above all what position will be adopted in the event of the RN’s success in the next legislative elections.

Can the President’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly be seen as an admission of weakness? What could be the presidential party’s strategy?

Macron is both admitting his weakness and anticipating a likely no confidence vote – something that has been announced for months by certain groups in the Assembly. It is also a sign that President Macron will have experienced all the unprecedented situations under the Fifth Parliament: the largest majority, then a minority government and now a dissolution.

Is a cohabitation with the National Rally conceivable? Or could we even imagine a radical change to the French party system?

A cohabitation with the RN is conceivable, but we’ll have to see what happens after these early general elections. According to political scientists Bruno Jérome, Philippe Mongrain and Richard Nadeau, the French party system was in the process of quadripolarisation. The four blocs are the traditional left and right, as well as Macronian centrism and the RN. From now on, the European elections will settle the internal tensions within each bloc:

RN: Should it pursue a strategy of “normalisation” even if it means losing votes to Reconquête?

The right: With whom should it form a coalition (or at least come to an agreement), not only to survive politically, but also to maximise its influence in parliament?

The Macronist centre: How can it reinvent itself in a second term which sounds like the end of its reign?

The left (overall): Will the social-democratic (PS) or the radical (LFI) line dominate? Is there a third way with the emergence of the increasingly popular François Ruffin?

Never have the European elections had such an impact on French politics.

[fragiledewdrop]

I had noticed this choice and I loved it, but I am reblogging this addition in particular because it highlights something that's been bothering me for a while.

I am not an historian, although I have studied my fair share of history, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I'd be very thankful if those who see this would stop a moment to read.

It seems that a lot of people are learning about the camicie nere from this post. While I am glad there is a link for further reading here, I want to point out the black shirts were not nazis. They were fascists.

I have noticed that people, especially non-europeans, tend to conflate the two, but I think it's important to know that nazism and fascism are two different things. There would be A LOT to say about this, but the short version is that nazism is very much tied to the political and social climate of Germany during the 30s. Fascism was born in Italy - way before nazism- and had very different characteristics. It was also, obviously, a fruit of the time and circumstances, but the term also has a wider meaning that can be applied to different political movements. Umberto Eco explained it quite well (I have seen this essay reccommended a lot on tumblr, but it's for good reason. Eco lived through Mussolini's dictatorship. As an Italian who has had the same things described in similar tones by several family members, I urge you read it).

I don't say this to be nitpicky.

Nazism, as an ideology, was a specific cocktail of nationalism, revanschism, extreme racism, eugenetics, violent anti-bolschevism and of course antisemitism (it's important to note that the latter two where conflated: communism was thought to be a direct creation of "the jews"). It harkened back to Germany's traditional pagan past, and was often tied to forms of mysticism.

Fascism was very different. Fascists were also (still are) firmly anti-communists. They were nationalists. But, for example, they were not raging antisemites (no more than the rest of Western society at any rate). Mussolini and the camicie nere did not base their ideology on racism, which Hitler very much did. Racial laws were passed in Italy, yes, but only after Mussolini and Hitler became allies: in almost 20 years of regime until then, it had never been an issue.

Do you see why that's important? A fascist may not come to you saying he hates jewish people, or any other racial group for that matter. That doesn't mean they are not dangerous in other ways, or that they, given the chance, won't turn on the first convenient target without remorse.

Crucially, Mussolini did launch a brutal colonial campaign in Etiopia. There was of course racism there, and it was significant- but again, it was not the driving force behind any political decision, and honestly? It wasn’t worse than what democratic governments from England and France had been doing around the world for two centuries. That's a whole other kettle of fish.

So if you are looking for blatant, in your face racist or antisemitic ideology as a warning sign for fascism? Think again. Look closer. That's not all there is. It's not how it starts.

It starts with the systematical intimidation and eradication of political enemies. It starts with the loss of freedom- the freedom to vote, to express dissent, the freedom of press, of assembly. It starts with the formation of a militia. It's power based on raw strength. And it's not only socialists being beaten and killed. It's every party being dissolved, including the moderates, the catholics, the conservatives who supported the fascists's rise to power. It's workers being deprived of their unions. Those are the signs. That's what leads to utter control over every aspect of society, of individual life. It leads to artists and scientists being silenced, to children being systematically brainwashed, to history being censored. It leads to the kind of society that will follow its "duce" into a suicidal allegiance with the worst dictator you can immagine. A kind of society that won't bat an eye when that results in the deportation and murder of innocents citizens.

Hitler also started like this, but he already had all his plans in mind, and they were known. He had talked about the "jewish problem", and the stab in the back, and the Volk, and the Lebensraum before seizing power. In Italy, in Spain, in Hungary, there was nothing of the sort. Fascist dictators still rose to power.

You won't spot burgeoning fascist ideology if you are looking for nazism. You won't. And that's dangerous, because I honestly do not think there are a lot of actual nazis in the world today. There are, however, a lot of fascists. More than you would think, if you are looking only for Goebbels 2.0, or for the progammatic madness of Hitler's speeches after the Munich Putsch.

Another key difference: the nazis were not connected with any form of organized religion. As I hinted above, they had their own kind of spirituality that often went against Christianity in many ways.

On the other hand, it could be argued that Mussolini's most long lasting heritage is his pact with the Catholic Church. He couldn’t have come to power in Italy with the church working against him, with the pope opposing him in his own country, and he knew it. He seeked a deal, and turned it into an ideological weopon. Franco in Spain was also supported by many members of the church.

So fascists have and will use religion for their gains, especially if they can convince you they are the last barrier against the godless degenerates that want to destroy your way of life.

The nazis very much DID NOT.

I haven't been able to stomach reading all of Mein Kampf, but I have read several passages during the years. I have been studying nazism since I was a teenager, because it terrifies me like little else. From what I have been able to understand, that ideology would have been doomed in any other country, in any other time. Fascism, on the other hand? That's an export product, and a successfull one at that.

It's an endemic illness that lurked through all post WW2 Europe and of which Nazism was but one manifestation. It's a beast that evolves, and it survives. It's "twenty centuries of stony sleeped/vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle". It's been fed, and continues to be fed, by the fear of radical reform and the fear of 'the other'. Except radical reform is no longer the Comintern, and 'the other' is no longer the socialist and the jew (although I am not trying to say antisemitism isn’t still an issue. At all)

And one last thing. Dictators in general, and fascists in particular, rarely care about ideology beyond a certain point. They want power, and they'd do anything to obtain it and mantain it.

Mussolini started out as a socialist. He was kicked out from the party when he advocated for Italy to break neutrality to fight in WW1. He was still, however, an anticlerical republican. In the Programma di San Sepolcro, the first program of the Fasci, the fascists say they want, among other things, the requisition of the church's property, a tax on capital aimed at the "partial requisition of wealth", and the right to vote for women.

They did not hesitate one second to throw all that to the wind when they realized they needed the church, the king, and the borgeoisie. Ideology was negotiable to them. That's incredibly dangerous.

The nazis, on the other hand, tended to be fanatical to the point of utter lunacy. When it was clear the war was lost Hitler killed himself. Goebbels and his wife reportedly also killed themselves and their children because they didn't want them to live in a word without nationalsocialism.

What did Mussolini do? He fled.

My grandfather, who was 14 at the time and had been raised the perfect little fascist, who trusted Mussolini more than god, once told me that that flight was the greatest betrayal of his life. Much like Umberto Eco, he had to deal with the fact that all he knew was a lie.

Not all people his age share his perspective. I still can't help wishing that those who feel the appeal of fascist leadership would listen to what he has to say.

To be clear: I am not saying nazism isn’t dangerous, nor that there aren’t aspects of it that have survived. But to conflate nazism and fascism is to miss a lot of much needed context and nuance.

Sorry for the long post. This probably lacks depth- there's a lot more to be said, and I am not an expert. It's also coloured by my own personal opinions and experiences, especially because I have been feeling a lot of rage about these topics lately. To be blunt, you do not grow up where I did without having a few openly fascist relatives, aquaintances, teachers and family friends. The current political situation does nothing to defuse tensions, so forgive me if I lost control a little.

I do hope, however, that it can be a starting point for looking into this. And that if you do, you'll remember Crowley's choice of shirt as the thing that prompted you to. That, and the fact that you got to see a Nazi devoured by a spider for eternity.

hi! i hope you’re having a good night! i was wondering what the significance of crowleys blue shirt and red tie in the 1941 flashbacks mean? they usually wear all black, so i was just wondering if it meant something :)

It meant that Crowley was not going to let anyone mistake him for a Blackshirt during WW2.

[crimechannels]

By • Olalekan Fagbade BREAKING: Another Coup again  as  Soldiers seize power,cancel election results in Gabon  result A couple ofSoldiers in Gabon haveappeared on television Wednesday announcing they were “putting an end to the current regime” and the cancellation of an election that, according to official results, President Ali Bongo Ondimba won. During the announcement, AFP journalists heard gunfire ring out in the Gabonese capital, Libreville. While announcing the cancellation of the results one of the soldiers said “all the institutions of the republic” had been dissolved. “We have decided to defend peace by putting an end to the current regime”, one of the soldiers said on TV channel Gabon 24, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the “Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions”. “To this end, the general elections of 26 August 2023 and the truncated results are cancelled,” he added. “All the institutions of the republic are dissolved: the government, the Senate, the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court,” he added, announcing the closure of the country’s borders “until further notice”. Among the soldiers were members of the Republican Guard as well as soldiers of the regular army and police officers. The statement was also broadcast on Gabon 1 public television. AFP journalists heard gunfire in several districts of Libreville during the statement. The announcement came shortly after the national election authority said Bongo, who has been in power for 14 years, had won a third term in Saturday’s election with 64.27 percent of the vote. Bongo’s main rival, Albert Ondo Ossa, won just 30.77 percent of the vote, according to the results. Ondo Ossa had denounced “fraud orchestrated by the Bongo camp”, claiming victory ahead of the closure of polls. On Monday, Ondo Ossa’s campaign manager Mike Jocktane called on Bongo to hand over power “without bloodshed”, insisting a partial count had Ondo Ossa clearly ahead, without providing any proof. Gabonese law forbids any publication of partial results pending the final result which only the Gabonese Elections Centre, the body that organises the polls, is legally allowed to publish. The official election results were broadcast at 03:30 (02:30 GMT) on state television without any prior announcement of the event. Before polls closed on Saturday, Bongo’s government imposed a curfew and a nationwide internet shutdown to prevent the spread of “false news” and possible violence, according to Libreville. #CoupinGabon #electionreults

[hardynwa]

Shun rumours, I’m strong, Tinubu says on arrival from France

President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, returned to Nigeria after a 32-day vacation in three countries, following the conclusion of the 2023 presidential polls, saying he is strong and ready to hit the ground running. An energetic-looking Tinubu, whose jet touched down at about 4:30pm at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, arrived in company of his wife, Oluremi and son, Seyi, to a cheery welcome by his supporters, stalwarts and members of his ruling All Progressives Congress, APC including members of the now-dissolved Presidential Campaign Council, PCC. The visibly elated former governor of Lagos State urged Nigerians to forget rumours about his health. During the vacation, Tinubu was in London, Paris and Saudi Arabia where he observed the lesser Hajj. He was escorted from the airport by a carnival-like motorcade to his residence in Asokoro, even as thousands of supporters and journalists hung around his campaign headquarters in Abuja’s Central District and the Defence House in Maitama, the official residence of Nigeria’s President-elect. Tinubu had departed the country on March 22 on a three-country tour to rest, embark on international engagements and then observe the lesser Hajj. According to a statement from the Office of the President-elect, signed by Tunde Rahman, among those at the airport to receive him were Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, as well as Governors Simon Lalong (Plateau) and Abubakar Sani-Bello (Niger) and former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff. Also at the airport were former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; APC Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Abubakar Kyari; Deputy National Chairman, South, Mr Emma Eneukwu; and National Woman Leader, Dr. Betta Edu. There were also Senators Barau Jibrin, Adeola Olamilekan, Opeyemi Bamidele, Dayo Adeyeye, Sabi Abdullahi and Adelere Oriolowo as well as secretary of the recently-dissolved Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. James Faleke. Mr. Babajimi Benson and Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Director of media and Publicity in the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Councilwere also there. I’ve rested, refreshed, ready for tasks ahead – Tinubu Addressing the crowd who followed him home, the President-elect said: “I am happy to be back. I have rested. I am refreshed and I am ready for the task ahead. Forget about what the rumour mill may have told you. I am strong, very strong.” Asked about about his plans for the country, he said he had been consulting and planning with a view to putting together a strong team so he could hit the ground running once he assumes office on May 29. Party leaders to meet soon on zoning of offices —Source With Tinubu’s return, party sources told Vanguard yesterday that the APC hierarchy, and stakeholders will meet soon to hammer out the issue of zoning of offices, especially that of the forthcoming 10th National Assembly. In the absence of Tinubu and zoning template, a horde of senators-elect and members-elect from the various zones of the country have been consulting, lobbying and campaigning to become Senate President, and House of Representatives Speaker, among others. Already, there are fears that the 2015 scenario when Senator Bukola Saraki emerged as Senate president, instead of Senator Ahmad Lawan, who was the choice of the APC leadership, could recur. In that era, Senator Ike Ekwereamdu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, also emerged as Deputy Senate President. In the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara became speaker, instead of Femi Gbajabiamila. Last weekend, the members-elect from seven opposition parties vowed to snatch the House of Representatives speakership from the APC. While the opposition parties, collectively, have 182 seats, the APC has 178 slots. Senate President Ahmad Lawan, weekend, assured that the 2015 fiasco would not recur, adding that the opposition parties would not stop the APC from producing the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives in the 10th NASS. According to him, the party leadership will do the needful and ensure its interest was protected. Indeed, a top APC source told Vanguard yesterday: “I am happy that Asiwaju is back. He has shamed those who were saying he would not come back or that he is very sick. ‘’You can see that he is hale and hearty and ready to lead Nigeria. Now that Asiwaju is back, APC leaders and stakeholders will meet soon and the question of zoning of offices will be answered. ‘’Asiwaju has told everyone that he is not interested in who becomes Senate president or speaker because it is a decision to be taken by the lawmakers themselves. ‘’However, he wants balance and inclusivity in the sharing of positions and I believe he will urge the party leaders to ensure these in the sharing of position.” Read the full article

[mariacallous]

Editor's Note: Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, Rached Ghannouchi, and Samira Chaouachi quotes are taken from interviews with the authors, June 29-30, 2022, Tunis.

On June 30, Tunisian President Kais Saied released the draft of a new constitution that will be put to a referendum on July 25, the one-year anniversary of his presidential coup. The document envisions an authoritarian, hyper-presidential system with few checks on Saied’s power. Even law professor Sadok Belaid, who wrote the first draft, said that Saied’s final version would “pave the way for a disgraceful dictatorship.”

As of now, most opposition parties plan to boycott the July 25 referendum, arguing the entire process of drafting the constitution has been illegitimate. With neither side showing any sign of compromise, Tunisia’s political crisis will continue, preventing joint action on its tail-spinning economy. While Saied is right that the pre-2021 system had its flaws, he has squandered an opportunity to find consensus around his political reforms, making it unlikely that his so-called “new republic” will have the legitimacy to stand the test of time.

A hyper-presidential system

Saied’s new constitution will considerably empower the presidency, unshackling what he called the “locks” on his power in the 2014 constitution. Instead of a two-headed executive where the president had to share power with a prime minister chosen by parliament, the president will now be the ultimate authority, choosing the prime minister, presenting laws to parliament, and appointing judges.

But Saied’s constitution goes much further than a simple presidential system, and instead removes almost all legislative and judicial checks on the president. Parliament can no longer impeach the president, with the new constitution dropping article 88 of the 2014 constitution. The legislature can still force the prime minister to resign (article 115), though only after a two-thirds vote (used to require a simple majority) and only once in its term — if parliament tries a second time, the president can dissolve parliament (article 116). The president’s state of emergency clause, which began this crisis on July 25, has been made even worse, with the parliament and constitutional court no longer having the power to end the president’s assumption of exceptional powers (article 96). Finally, the constitution drops article 101 of the 2014 constitution, stripping the constitutional court of the prerogative to interpret and adjudicate the president’s powers. As Saïd Benarbia of the International Commission of Jurists aptly summed up: the constitution “provides for an unbridled presidential system, with an omnipotent President, a powerless Parliament and a toothless judiciary.”

Moreover, the parliament seems intentionally designed to be weak. If the problem with the 2014 constitution was a divided executive, Saied’s constitution creates a divided legislature. Saied’s constitution envisions two parliamentary bodies: the traditional Assembly of the People’s Representatives is now accompanied by a new National Council of Regions and Districts — an attempt to enact the decentralized, bottom-up political vision that Saied ran on three years ago. Both chambers would have responsibility for passing the budget and exercising parliamentary oversight. Under the new constitution, members of both the assembly and the council will have only limited immunity, and could be prosecuted for slander or libel (article 66). At best, this system will be similarly divided, with too many overlapping institutions to govern effectively. At worst, the two parliaments will simply rubber-stamp a domineering president.

The identity of the state

There are a number of other changes in Saied’s constitution that likewise do not bode well for democracy. The 2014 constitution had codified the military and security forces as independent (“republican”) and impartial institutions (articles 18-19); however, Saied’s constitution removes these articles entirely — a worrisome development given his use of military courts to try civilians and police to repress protesters. Also missing are many of the independent bodies created in the 2014 constitution, such as the anti-corruption authority (INLUCC), the human rights commission, and the audio-visual communication commission (HAICA). The new constitution likewise removes judges’ right to strike, seemingly in response to judges striking for the past month to protest Saied’s purging of 57 judges on June 1.

The most surprising change in the constitution might be towards the role of Islam. While those involved in the drafting of the constitution had hinted at a more secular constitution, the final draft released by Saied is decidedly more Islamist. Article 5 notes that Tunisia is “part of the Islamic ummah,” and instructs the state “to work to achieve the objectives (maqāsid) of pure Islam,” which it specifies as life, honor, money, religion, and freedom. Such a clause is something the actual Islamist parties in Tunisia never dared to introduce. Tunisian analyst Mohamed Dhia Hammami suggests the new constitution could set “the foundation of a theocratic Islamic state.” Politically, this clause is likely to hurt Saied among the few parties and foreign governments still allied with him, all of which are anti-Islamist. Yet, Saied might be calculating that his core supporters, who he needs to turn out at the polls, might be more religiously conservative — they did, after all, support his opposition to equal inheritance and homosexuality in 2019.

Evaluation and prognosis

As important as the substance of a constitution is the process by which it was drafted — if done in an inclusive and consensual manner, it can secure widespread buy-in and legitimacy that allows it to outlast its creator. In this regard, Saied’s approach has failed miserably, having been drafted near unilaterally and behind closed doors. All of the major political parties, plus the powerful Tunisian General Labor Union, were excluded or refused to take part.

Each of the major political parties now plans to boycott the upcoming referendum, not wanting to grant it legitimacy through a higher turnout. Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, leader of the National Salvation Front, explained his decision to boycott as such: “This is a coup… The process has been described by the Venice Commission as something contrary to all the international standards, all constitutional principles. It’s an attempt to give false legitimacy to something which is and will be personal, absolute power.”

While the opposition might be able to block the constitution if they all agreed to vote no, they do not trust that the referendum will be free and fair. “We don’t have faith that it’s going to be a clean referendum,” observed Rached Ghannouchi, president of the Islamist Ennahda party and speaker of the dissolved parliament. “Why did the president change the electoral commission? Why did he change the electoral law? Why did he ban foreign observers? These are indicators that there is an intent to take control of the electoral process… The outcome is already known.” Samira Chaouachi, leader of the secular Qalb Tounes party and deputy speaker of the dissolved parliament, highlighted the lack of free speech: “The judiciary is being intimidated today… [Saied] has arrested many Tunisian bloggers, so he will be able to silence any voice against the referendum. This is illegitimate. We will not participate.”

With most of the opposition boycotting, Kais Saied’s new constitution is likely to pass on July 25. But his pyrrhic victory will be short-lived: the process of steamrolling through a new constitution will only serve to unite and expand the opposition — not grant his new republic any legitimacy. Tunisia’s political divisions will only deepen, and its crisis will worsen.

[beardedmrbean]

The government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov lost a vote of no confidence in Parliament on June 22, with 123 MPs voting in favour of the motion, 116 opposed and no abstentions. The vote was held 24 hours after the end of a lengthy debate in the National Assembly.

This outcome was expected, given that cable presenter Slavi Trifonov withdrew his ITN party from the government coalition earlier this month, citing the issues of North Macedonia and the Budget revision.

Last week, MPs voted to oust Nikola Minchev, from Petkov’s We Continue the Change, as Speaker of Parliament, a move that was seen as a test whether the motion of no confidence stood a chance to pass.

The votes in favour of the motion of no confidence came from the opposition GERB-UDF of former prime minister Boiko Borissov, predominantly ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), Trifonov’s ITN and pro-Russian Vuzrazhdane.

Petkov had sought support for his Cabinet from individual ITN MPs, but his efforts had limited success, with only six MPs defecting from ITN.

Prior to the vote, Petkov said that he would seek to form another government if the motion passed, with the support of more independent MPs should others resign from ITN’s group.

In brief remarks after the vote, Petkov said that “it has been an honour to lead a government that has been brought down by [controversial MRF MP and businessman Delyan] Peevski, Borissov, Trifonov and [Russian ambassador Eleonora] Mitrofanova.”

Although the Cabinet lost the vote, WCC will get another opportunity to form a government as it will receive the first mandate from President Roumen Radev.

Centre-right Democratic Bulgaria and leftist Bulgarian Socialist Party have said that they intended to remain part of the WCC-led coalition.

If those efforts are unsuccessful, the second mandate would go to GERB-UDF, which won the second-largest share of votes in the November 2021 elections.

Should it fail as well, Radev will choose which other parliamentary group to hand the third mandate. Only if that attempt falls short will Radev dissolve the National Assembly and schedule early elections, with a caretaker Cabinet appointed by the President taking office in the meantime.

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “EALS-AF.”

Hope you guys like this one. Things are heating up and getting exciting. A lot of moving parts so bare with me :) 

“What happened!”

“You know-”

“What happened! What happened with our plans, our agreement, what happened to everything we have worked to gain that you would go behind my back like that!”

“We did what was necessary.”

“What was necessary, what was necessary! You killed one man. ONE man and pissed off the rest of the universe, how does that accomplish anything.” The voiceless turned in a sharp circle, calming down and taking a deep breath, “You know what, nevermind, it doesn’t matter. You have never listened to me and you will never listen to me, and I know that. And because of your stupid pride, you will die. I got what I wanted.”

The burg queen gurgled angrily, “Watch your tongue maggot.”

The kree waved a wing at her, “Oh dry up you old hag!” He turned in a circle, “I told you what you needed to do to win this war. I told you what needed to happen, a division between the GA and all of its factions, especially humanity, but what did you do, you brought them together. As of now my sources say that more than five members of the GA council have agreed to declare an all-out war on you and your home planet.” HE turned back to look, “Do you really think that you can stand against Humanity, The drev, the Tesraki, the rundi, the gromm AND the Celzex! The Celzex alone could atomize your solar system without a second thought on their furry minds.”

The Burg queen was silent now, and it seemed as if it was only just beginning to dawn on her what exactly she had done.

THe Kree shook out his feathers, “Well, no matter. As I said, I got what I wanted. The voiced have been discredited and the Kree will not be joining the galactic assembly.” HE opened his wings, “Good luck waging war against the entire universe. I will enjoy watching your pathetic race perish from a distance while I take my next steps against the kree nations.”

***

The rundi charwoman looked out across the Irus Capital launch field, where a thousand different ships of half a dozen different alien species sat on the tarmac figures running about in wide circles as they prepared themselves for the upcoming siege.

Beside her stood the president of the UN, the Tesraki Prime minister, The Gromm Chancellor, the Drev representative and Lord Celex of the Celzex who sat moodily on the shoulder of the Drev representative glowering out across the tarmac.

“Is there a problem, Lord Celex?” She wondered, shifting her feet in worry.

Lord Celex was one of the most powerful beings here, probably second only to herself, and probably even greater than the human UN president. He had the most capable weapons in the galaxy, and at a distance could destroy entire solar systems. If he were to back out of the deal now, than their future was far more uncertain.

It seemed strange that the small, colorful creature was to have so much power, but at the same time almost fitting.

“I am not convinced of this course of action, chairwoman. Our act of war must have already reached them. If they wanted to surrender they would have already done so, sending a messenger will only open us up for attack.”

“Sending an envoy is how it has always been done and how it will always be done.”

Lord Celzex snorted but did not disagree with her, “Then I wish to send one of my ships. There is a greater likelihood they will survive, as we all know the burg do not follow the rules of engagement like the rest of us. They are likely to attack as soon as the engagement is over.”

“Very well Lord Celex, the envoy will be yours, but do not attack before an attack has been made against you.”

The small ball of fluff shook his head, though in shaking his head it was more like shaking his entire body. “If you insist, chairwoman.” He tapped the Drev on the shoulder with his foot, and the Drev held out one of each of his upper and lower hands. Lord Celex used the Drev’s hands like a ladder hopping from shoulder to hand to hand and then onto the floor before waddling away.

From the corner of her eye, the chairwoman could see the UN president looking hungirly after Lord Celex, not hungrily in the way she might heave first assumed, but she had been told by humans in the near past that Lord Celex was very ‘cute’ and that your average human wanted nothing more than to cuddle one into submission.”

For some reason, the thought reminded her of the commander, and her mood drifted downwards once again. A lot of people assumed they were going to war on the behalf of the commander, but that was not the case, if it had just been one man and a one time attack, they would have been upset, but they would not have retaliated.

Diplomatic relations were sometimes more important than the life -- or in this case -- the death of one man.

No, this had been building for a while, with their constant breach of GA sanctions, protocols and laws, their direct attack on the Gromm homewrold and Earth. In fact, her approval rating had dropped in recent years, sited mostly by her apparent liability to respond to the burg threat and retaliate against their poor behavior.

She had been hoping this conflict would all end, but she coulsee now that that was not the case.

She should have done something sooner.

Ahead of her, A column of humans marched by, their feet pounding against the ground in time with their war chant.

The ground shook as they passed, and the entire airfield seemed to turn to watch them, it was a good demonstration and reminded the GA soldiers and officers of the human power on the battlefield. 

The war was soon to commence.

***

Mistress Rizex Sat at the helm of her ship, watching closely on her instruments as burg airspace drew closer in her vision. All around her other Celzex sat in rapped attention, ready to fire their weapons if anything were to go amiss.

She tapped her foot slightly as the distant stars drew closer.

“Burg ships detected, mistress.” 

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she stared out at the darkness.

Lord Celex had not sent her for no reason. Other than being his longtime consort, she was also one of the greatest Celex generals the world had ever known, and likely the universe. 

He knew she understood how this was all supposed to end.

She would be pleased to oblige his wishes.

She was very good at sending a message.

“Mistress, we are being hailed by a burg command ship, shall I take the transmission.”

Her ears flicked slightly, “Yes.”

She waited for only a moment before the hologram rose up before her. The ugly creature towered over her by many feet, though she was not intimidated in the last by its size.

“You are entering Burg restricted airspace, turn around or be terminated.”

One of the technicians caught her eyes from across the room, and she gave them a subtle nod of acknowledgement before turning to look at the ugly creature. She ignored it’s warning and continued, “I am Mistress Rizex of the celzex and envoy of the Galactic Assembly, and on behalf of the galactic assembly, I wish to wonder why you think it is appropriate to enter GA restricted airspace and fire on our people, but do not rant us access in the other direction.”

The Burg hissed and chittered, “I am not interested in your politics, maggot. I am simply interested in your death. The GA can leave.”

She tapped her foot some more, “The GA will not leave. Let this be your official warning Burg, tell your queen that the GA has declared war. All trade agreements and sanctions against the Burg nation are henceforth dissolved. Any protections that your people may once have enjoyed have now been removed.” She trend to look at the rest of the bridge crew, “You are no longer welcome.”

The creature hissed and jeered, “The GA does not scare us.”

“Than you are as stupid as you are hostile.” She said, not one for diplomatic words, “And I warn you here and now that if the Burg nation does not cease and desist, we will destroy every last one of you without hesitation and with great prejudice, what say you.”

There was a pause for a moment. She could see the Burg look away from her, glancing towards someone she could not see.

In turn she looked to her bridge crew, who she could see were already ready like the warriors that they were.

She waited patiently, like the hunter that she fancied herself to be.

“I say…. THIS” Proximity alarms fired, just as she expected them to, and she did not even flinch as the rest of the floor jumped into action firing only second after the Burg. The space between their two ships was rocked with a bright flash of light and a sudden eruption of debris, that darkened almost as soon as it had brightened.

Four burg missiles had been terminated before they even made it to her cruiser.

Her ears twitched.

The Burg looked almost shocked.

She leaned a bit closer, “Do you wish to know what I say?”

The burg turned just in time to see her smile before giving the order.

A pulse of bright blue light radiated out from their ship in all directions, cutting across space. In almost the instant that the blue light touched them, the Burg ships rattled violently and then atomized.

One moment five burg ships guarded the borner, and the next five burg ships were completely vaporized, nothing more than dust on the edge of the solar system.

All around them the lights went dim, and their life support warning began to screech.

All power had been used up by the attack.

That was fine.

Behind them a rift opened and their ship was grappled by the second command module and hauled back into the warp,.

That should make enough of a statement about what the GA thought of the Burg and their tactics.

***

I woke up to something nudging my foot.

Opening my eyes I was still soar, and in pain, but it was far better than I could have hoped for. It took me a while to remember where I was and what I was doing, but the soft white bed of down reminded me, and I looked up to find one of the Omnidroids -- strange alien species that had rescued me from a hostile alien planet -- standing over me, all five of it’s trunk-like legs resting against the ground.

I looked upwards towards the top of it’s body where the slightly bulbous protrusions sat. I assumed that was it’s head, and if it had eyes, that was the most likely spot to find them.

It nudged my foot again, and I sat up.

As I did, one of its legs was lifted forward, and in it’s star, shaped hand it proffered me a strange object.

Whatever it was it was brightly colored, and when I took it, I was hit with a mildly sweet scent.

I sniffed at it, and looked up at the creature.

I couldn’t tell if it was looking at me.

Well… this was a bit of a problem. I was sort of assuming that it was offering me food, but if it wasn’t,  was I about to put something nasty in my mouth? And then there was the other factor of wondering how it even knew what I had ate. I left my detection device back at camp, so there was no way for me to test it myself.

There was, of course, always the chance that it had used some kind of unknown technology to scan me and figure out what I would be interested in eating, but, I hadn’t really seen a whole lot of technology aboard this ship, at least not in the traditional sense.

The ship itself was a silver ball, nothing more. The walls were bare, the floor was bare, the ceiling was bare. Light seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once. There were no buttons or dials or knobs or levers of any sort to be seen. The air seemed to have a strange misty quality to it, and a part of me wondered if there weren’t just thousands of nanobots floating around doing all the work.

Of course that was probably just my big dumb science fiction geek brain talking.

Either way, they didn’t have any sort of technology that I recognized, so it was either concealed, or so advanced it was beyond my comprehension.

That was a thought.

 The most advanced species in the GA was a tossup between the Vrul and the Celzex, though for different reasons.

But this was something beyond that.

It was still staring at me, and I glanced down not sure about this whole fruit thing, but I guess there was only one way to find out.

I dug my nails into the outside of the thing and began peeling away the skin. In that way it felt sort of like an orange. I watched the omnidroid while I worked, but it didn’t react negatively.

I kept peeling.

INside was slimy and wet,  but when I sniffed at it the smell was sweet, somewhere between a Kiwi and a strawberry, though its innards were a strange blue purple color.

I peeled off the rest of the skin and then took a tentative bite.

It was so sweet it made my face hurt, and my mouth water.

I swallowed just a tiny bit and waited.

And waited 

And waited.

My stomach growled.

I took another piece, and waited some more.

After about half an hour I determined that the fruit was safe, and shoved the rest of it in my mouth surprised at how hungry I was.

Once done, I picked up the rest of the skin,and shrugging, offered it to the omnidroid.

What Can I say, I wanted to be a polite guest.

It didn’t move for a little bit, an action that I wasn’t sure was hesitation or not.

But eventually it took the the scraps and headed out the door.

I was left alone again and returned to my curled position on the soft white fluff.

What was I going to do? They seemed nice enough, though if I couldn’t communicate with them this was no better than prison.

Escape was in order, though how I was going to manage to do that was a mystery.

As of right now though, I didn’t know where I was, who I was with, and what they planned on doing to me. They didn’t let me out of this room, though I wasn’t sure if that was because I was a prisoner or something else. They didn’t really treat me like a prisoner. All evidence to the contrary seemed to support the fact that they were trying to keep me alive and healthy.

Medical care and food and all.

But then again maybe they were just really nice to their prisoners most of the time?

Hmm

What would Captain Kirk do?

Probably something stupid.

What would Captain Reynolds do?

Also probably something stupid 

What would Han Solo do?

Also something pretty stupid, awesome and reckless, and he would look sexy as fuck while doing it. 

I nodded to myself. It seemed as if my course of action had been decided for me, the council had spoken, and all the great space ship captains of the past were speaking to me through the ages.

The only way I was going to get out of this was by dong something pretty stupid but awesome and reckless at the same time, bonus points if I managed to make it look sexy while I did.

Although lets be honest, that last one is a tall order for me.

Most of the time I just look like a moron 

I sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

Operation EALS-AF was underway 

(Escape Awesomely and Look Sexy AF)

[aristocraticvision]

Chapter 148: Discussions of State

“So if I’m following you correctly, you want to revise the Cross-Border Banking Agreement to strike the no-fees provision on international transactions, correct?” Stephen asked.

“In a nutshell, yes,” King Henry replied. “Both Corwyn and Weston are missing out on billions of dollars each year in transaction fees. We tax those transactions domestically, so each year, more and more families are diverting their funds and investments across our borders. So I have to assume that your tax revenues on these types of banking fees is continuing to decline, just as ours is.”

“You’re right there,” Stephen replied. “Even middle class Westonian families are starting the discover the benefits of cross-border banking, so that decline has accelerated over the past five years.”

“So by renegotiating that aspect of the agreement, both countries are likely to see significant revenue increases,” the king said.

“Yes, but it will also be a highly unpopular decision,” Stephen replied. “Here in Weston, our tax revenues have remained consistent due to sustained private sector growth, so I would essentially be levying an unnecessary tax so far as my people – and the National Assembly – are concerned.”

King Henry paused, then stood.

“I understand your reluctance, Stephen, but think about it. Even if you’re seeing the practice expanding into the middle class, you have to admit that the current arrangement benefits the wealthy far more than anyone. By taxing international transactions, we would simply be levelling the playing field and closing a loophole that has been open for far too long.”

Stephen smiled.

“Oh, I agree with you completely,” he said. “And, in terms of revenue, our governments will win either way. If people move their funds home, we’ll tax their transactions internally. If they leave them, we’ll tax their cross-border transactions. It’s actually a tidy solution. How much is your parliament estimating it will raise in Corwyn?”

“About 212 billion solaris per year,” the king replied.

Stephen whistled.

“I would assume we’d see similar revenues, then,” he said. “That’s hard to ignore now, isn’t it?”

They stood in silence for a moment, and Stephen walked to the window – looking out over the lawn.

“So tell me, what laws govern this agreement in Corwyn?” Stephen asked.

“What do you mean?” King Henry asked.

“Well, in Weston, since this agreement was originally negotiated and signed by the two sovereigns, it is considered a royal agreement,” Stephen said. “While, of course, it is subject to approval by the National Assembly, it only becomes final with my signature as sovereign.”

“I would say Corwyn’s laws treat it similarly, yes,” the king replied. “While it is binding, it would only be executable with my signature.”

“So unless the original agreement is dissolved, our two nations’ legislative bodies could not negotiate a replacement agreement on their own, correct?” Stephen asked.

“No, that wouldn’t be legal with a royal agreement in place,” the king replied.

Stephen turned, grinning.

“Then the actual terms of a replacement agreement would be ours to dictate, correct?” he asked.

King Henry’s face suddenly lit up as he understood Stephen’s thoughts, then clouded.

“But if they have to approve the final agreement, they can still render any agreement we make null and void at their discretion.”

Stephen shook his head.

“But if they did that, we simply refuse to dissolve the original agreement,” he added, smiling. “Essentially, it would be an all or nothing arrangement.”

King Henry laughed.

“Oh my, Stephen,” he said. “You are truly brilliant. No wonder your National Assembly loves you and hates you at the same time.”

“Now, now,” Stephen said, smiling. “I like to think that all my people love me. Even the politicians.”

“So what do you have in mind?” the king asked.

Stephen gestured toward the door.

“Let’s take a walk, my friend,” he said. “I think we might be able to make this work for both our governments and our people – and maybe even just a little bit for us.”

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