Skip to Content

President Macron, clearly disgusted by his suffering voters. Facebook
Paris

Election campaign in France sees majority siding with right-wing demands

The most important political demands of the two right-wing candidates in the French presidential election campaign, Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour, meet with the approval of a majority of French people. This is the result of a recent survey by the polling institute Ifop.

Published: March 31, 2022, 10:44 am

    Read more

    French people were asked to give their opinion on the presidential candidates’ proposals on, among other things, the fight against Islamism and radicalisation.

    According to the survey, 69 percent of French voters want a ban on the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols at sporting events, including most potential voters of Éric Zemmour (92 percent), Marine Le Pen (82 percent) or Valérie Pécresse (81 percent). However, the planned ban also meets with approval in the ranks of the left and the centre. But even almost a quarter of Muslims are also in favour of such a ban (24 percent).

    Some 57 percent of French people also want to ban the wearing of conspicuous religious clothing or signs on the streets and in public spaces.

    There is massive support for all the proposals voiced by the candidates to fight radical Islamism: 90 percent of respondents favour the expulsion of foreigners listed in anti-terrorist files (while only 73 percent of Muslims agreed); 87 percent are in favour of introducing the revocation of citizenship for any dual national found guilty of terrorist acts. Also, 87 percent of French people want to increase the presence of public services in the neighbourhoods most affected by radicalisation (72 percent).

    In the fight against Islamism, Éric Zemmour is currently considered the most credible candidate (30 percent) among those running for the highest office.

    However, both the fight against Islamism and other immigration issues are currently not really the focus of public debate. There is growing distrust in the president’s insistence on employing “experts” from a tax-evading American consulting firm. And about two weeks before the first round of elections, the role of the US in the Ukraine conflict is an all-dominant topic in France.

    Why are US consultants hired by the Macron administration?

    The McKinsey scandal which erupted around Emmanuel Macron, was revealed in number 502 of Faits & Documents. Profitable French industries such as Alstom have been gutted by foreign investors, sparking unemployment and impoverishment. The rising anger expressed by the Yellow Vests (which Macron has addressed through repression) and rising populism (which is addressed through media propaganda) may well boomerang on Macron.

    Traveling to Dijon, the French president reacted to the controversy that is mounting following the conclusions of the Senate commission of inquiry on the use of consulting firms. The head of state maintains that the majority of spending was related to cybersecurity, but his assertion was contradicted by the president of the commission of inquiry.

    In Dijon, Macron had to explain himself at length on the damning report of the Senate commission of inquiry on McKinsey’s involvement in state affairs to the tune of one at least a billion euros. The co-rapporteur of the commission, Éliane Assassi had noted that “whole sections of public policies were delegated to consultants, who however have no democratic legitimacy”. She added that it was a “deep intrusion of the private sector into the public sphere”.

    Even more embarrassing, is the suspicion of false testimony by a manager of a French subsidiary of McKinsey who had stated, under oath before the commission, that his firm had paid its taxes in France. However, the Senate investigation confirmed that the McKinsey firm had not paid corporate tax in France for at least 10 years.

    The President of the Republic immediately became didactic when confronted by reporters. “A lot of nonsense has been spouted in recent days. We talked about the billion. I invite you to look at the details. Three-quarters, even more, are recourse to IT service providers and companies to finance cyber and the evolution to new risks. The state sometimes needs to buy external skills,” he explained.

    But Arnaud Bazin, the LR president of the Senate inquiry committee, told publicenat.fr: “The head of state’s argument is fallacious. We must first remember that the billion euros that we have identified includes only part of the consultancy expenditure. This is a minimum estimate. We have only evaluated the expenditure of ministries and that of 44 State agencies. i.e. only 10 percent of the operators.”

    Director of military intelligence fired

    The Director of military intelligence, General Eric Vidaud, has meanwhile been fired because he had given a poor analysis of the “Russian threat” in Ukraine.

    Vidaud was appointed just seven months ago, but on Wednesday 30 March, a source quoted by Le Monde confirmed that the Directorate of Military Intelligence [direction du renseignement militaire (DRM)] had been in the firing line since the beginning of the Russian offensive.

    The DRM had been doing “military intelligence on operations, not on intent” suggesting that the Macron administration wanted to remove Vidaud because he had been too impartial and not anti-Russian enough.

    Consider donating to support our work

    Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.

    Keep ​your language polite​. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in​,​ for example​, ​Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.

    If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violation​s​ of​ any​ law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.

    If your comments are subject to preview ​by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.

    We reserve the right to del​ete​ comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.

    Europe
    Daniel Friberg, founder of the publishing house Arktos, tells Nya Tider that they intend to counter censorship by starting new ventures, including an online cultural magazine and an online university. Photo: Arktos

    Publisher of Unique Literature Worldwide Blocked by International Distributor

    Arktos has distinguished itself by publishing groundbreaking philosophers and social critics. Now, the publisher's international distributor has abruptly terminated the cooperation, and more than 400 already printed titles cannot reach their audience. There is strong evidence that the distributor has been under pressure, something that has also happened in Sweden. We have spoken with Arktos founder Daniel Friberg about the ongoing struggle for freedom of speech in a shrinking cultural corridor.

    Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the Catholic bishops who signed the letter, which was read out in churches throughout Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland over the Easter weekend. Photo: The Catholic Church

    Care prompts bishops to criticize transgender ideology

    The Catholic bishops of the Scandinavian countries presented an open five-page letter criticizing transgender ideology on March 21, just before Easter. The document primarily expresses care and advice and was read aloud in Catholic churches in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, is one of the signatories of the document.

    FREEZING IN THEIR HOMES is the new grim reality for many Brits and Northern Europeans. Margaret is 92 years old and has just come in from the winter cold, but no warmth awaits her at home. She fears her own home more than the icy streets. Next to her are four thick blankets, and on the shelf above the fireplace, which she can no longer afford to buy wood for, is a meter showing the daily cost of electricity (inset). It shows £1.03, about 13 SEK. When it reaches £3, about 38 SEK, she is forced to turn off the little heat she has to afford it. Still image: ITW News

    Brits Forced to Live in Darkness and Cold

    Food prices are rising at a furious pace, fastest in Scotland in almost half a century. At the same time, energy prices are at record highs. People are forced to choose between freezing or going hungry, and a majority of Scots are forced to live in cold and darkness to cope with bills. Old generations' tricks for saving and keeping warm are returning. Nevertheless, it is feared that 10,000 Brits will die of cold homes this winter. We present the Swedish Public Health Agency's guidelines on indoor temperature. Governments in Europe are introducing rationing and monitoring of food purchases. Net-zero emissions are a lie that, in practice, de-industrializes the West and dramatically lowers our standard of living.

    Thousands of Flemish farmers block roads in Brussels against nitrogen policy

    BrusselsMore than 2500 farmers from Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders region gathered at Brussels' central Arts-Loi street and blocked roads with tractors toward Brussels to protest the regional government's plan to limit nitrogen emissions.

    Orban: EU energy sanctions costing citizens billions

    BudapestHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned that some western states could soon send troops to Ukraine. He also criticized the fact that the EU sanctions against Russia had cost Hungarian taxpayers tens of billions of euros.

    Italy: New leader of the Social Democrats is one of Soros’ ‘preferred politicians’

    RomeDuring the election campaign, Elly Schlein presented herself as the standard-bearer of the poorest. However, her background and previous work raise doubts about her honesty.

    UK greenhouses shut down due to high energy costs

    LondonIn Great Britain, a particularly depressing facet of the crisis is now showing its first contours - and thus anticipating what is likely to happen in other European countries in the near future: because of the exploding energy prices, agriculture is being strangled and fresh produce has to be rationed.

    Lisbon opens borders to all Portuguese speakers

    LisbonNot only the German and Italian governments keep opening new paths for immigration. Portugal, too, has opened a Pandora's box and is paving the way for possibly millions of non-European immigrants to the EU – something which is not mentioned by the mainstream media.

    Illegal immigration to Italy has reached its highest level ever

    RomeIn Italy, despite the overwhelming right-wing electoral success in September, there is still nothing to be seen of the promised asylum turnaround – on the contrary. Giorgia Meloni has been in office for five months, but the arrivals of migrants in Italy have doubled compared to the previous year.

    Dismantling diplomacy with ‘feminist foreign policy’

    BudapestGerman Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to counter German security issues abroad with feminist politics. Gender training, LGBTQ events and quotas are now part of their new guidelines, which are intended to bring about "cultural change". The German ambassador to Hungary, Julia Gross, provided an embarrassing example.

    Go to archive