Launched by Jean-Marie Le Pen in 1972, the Front National has become synonymous with anti-semitism, anti-immigrant and protectionist over five decades, drawing its support base from disenfranchised French voters with the rallying cry of "The People First". Sound familiar?
In this edition of Paris Perspective, we take a look at the state of France's far-right Rassemblement National, the newly rebranded version the Front National led by party leader and two-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen - daughter of the party's firebrand founding father.
Since taking over the leadership of the Front National from her father in 2011, Marine Le Pen has been fighting to reposition the far-right political entity she inherited from France's political fringes towards mainstream politics, while retaining the core values of the party - Patriotism: Family Values: Anti-Immigration: Economic Protectionism.
These are appealing notions to some, who feel their "traditional" way of life in France is under attack from external influences. But the French extreme right is a composite affair, with multiple players, embracing different sentimentalities that ebb and flow with populist sentiments among the electorate. With only a year to go before France goes to the polls to elect a new president and parliament, the Rassemblement National is the main opposition force that President Emmanuel Macron's centrist La République en Marche must face down in April 2022.
The fear of home-grown Islamist separatism, following the beheading of secondary school teacher Samuel Paty in October has rekindled bitter arguments in France about immigration and the threat of Islamism.
Paty was killed by an 18-year old Chechen immigrant in a Paris suburb after showing satirical cartoons of the prophet Mohammed as part of a civics class on freedom of speech.
This in turn has put the country's strict form of secularism under international scrutiny, and has compounded the malaise and helplessness felt across France since the Covid-19 pandemic triggered the first lockdown in March 2020.
Bruno Gollnisch is an academic, former MEP and long serving Front National politician who was a contender for the party leadership 10 years ago. An accomplished scholar in Asian studies and long-seving chairman of the European parliamentary group "Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty", Gollnisch has been an integral part of the inner-circle of France's extreme right.
Following Paty's killing, Macron's government is pushing through a "Loi Separatisme" or anti-separatism bill which, while comprehensive in trying to deal with on dealing with the threat of Islamist separatism in France, some would say the proposed law is draconian. Others say it doesn't go far enough.
Gollnisch is unfazed by commentary that Macron's legislation on policing home-grown islamism hasn't stolen any of the far-right's thunder.
"There is no patent on political ideas. I think that the situation in France is so serious now that is impossible for anybody NOT to face this problem. Two years ago, Marine Le Pen repeted the dangers of massive immigration, uncontrolled immigration policy, especially with people coming from different cultures", says Gollnisch.
To the veteran far-right politician a clash of cultures has always been ineviatble when it comes to migration, with people coming into France from "a different ethnic stock. We will one day or another endanger our national identity, your values.
" We [have been branded] as racist, xenophobic and all these kind of things. But nobody can reasonably say that that there is not such a problem in France." For him, the beheading of Professor Patty is just "the tip of the iceberg."
It's the economy stupid... or stupid economics?
However, apart from drawing on the fears of islamism and insecurity, the French far-right have always targetted an electorate that has borne the brunt of industrial decline and a globalised economy. Marine Le Pen's economic strategy has often been pilloried as being “simplistic” with the Rassemblement National offering little else other than being “anti-Macron”.
For Bruno Gollnisch, it is precisely that direct opposition to Macron's policies that lies at the heart of the Rassemblement's success at the polls in 2022.
"Our economic policy that would be exactly the contrary to what has been done up to now. I would say up until the pandemic. Because of the pandemic, things are going to change. Macron himself was absolutely in favor of absolute free trade, no barriers... We lost our industry, our best [players], the possibility of manufacturing drugs.For months it was impossible to our for our industry to manufacture a vaccine," Gollnisch maintains.
For him the European Union is to blame for opening France's economy and market to foreign competition who haven't the same regulations or tax burdens.
"The result is that we lost half of our industry in the past 20 years. We want to do exactly the contrary." For France to thrive, says Gollnisch, the French should enjoy a less-constained economy at home, with "reasonable frontiers" and tax duties on products that have been manufactured by people who earn 50 times less than the average French worker.
But as the 2022 elections loom on the horizon, some political pundits in France are questioning whether it is a given that Marine Le Pen will lead the Rassemblement National onto the hustings.
Jean-Marie Le Pen's niece, Marion Maréchal Le Pen, is waiting in the wings with a more populist, conservative brand of the French Far Right aiming to embrace the traditionally centre-right Républicains and bring the social media savvy “influencer youth vote” into the mix.
In view of what happened in the USA in 2016, this could be where we see the likes of Steve Bannon, former Trump campaign manager and alt-right media guru coming in from the cold to shake things up. Can we expect other populist “agents provocateurs” to be hovering around the campaign trail in 2022?
For Gollnisch, he would be quite happy to see far-right support coming from outside the country, as he was the campaign manager for Jean-Marie Le Pen when the Front National leader mad it to the second round of 2002 Presidential Election to face off against Jacques Chirac.
"I would have nothing against Mr. Bannon coming to visit us. Not at all. But what I expect is more personalities coming in from various countries because it's unbelievable. [We have support] not only from people in Europe, or North or South America, but from Asia and Africa, who completely share our views."
He citres the example of the DRC parliamentary chairman Vital Kamhere, who is now Chief of Staff for the incumbent Congolese President Félix Tshisikedi, who allegedly opened his party congress by reading a message from Jean-Marie Le Pen.
For Gollnisch, the French extreme-right sets an example for like-minded people abroad, "because we want to keep our independence, our freedom, our identity, and we perfectly understand why other people want to do so too."
And that gets to the crux of issue with populism. African leaders, such as Tanzania's John Magufuli, sing on high from the populist hymn sheet, as it can be a very effective tool to rally an agitated population to their cause.
The same could be said of Egypt under General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has recognised that by bringing social media influencers on side will soften youth perception towards his authoritarian rule. That is very much the populist playbook for the 2020s.
France and the social media rabbit hole
With the USA emerging from the four years of "Fire and Fury" that the Trump Administration will be remembered for, the world is a more cynical place with the seeds of fear, suspicion and disbelief in mainstream politics and the media have taken root.
Of late it could be said that some French media outlets are following the same downward trajectory as the US conservative media that propelled Trump to the presidency, powered by alt-right propaganda and Fox News. The in-studio participation of "analysts" and "experts" using shock tactics has been steadily on the rise in France. So is the 24/7 media cycle in France chasing the "ratings rabbit" down the echo-chamber rabbit hole?
The issue for Gollnisch is that the media and institutions in France are already skewed against giving the far-right a voice. "It would be very difficult for you, for anybody, for any commentator, to give me two or three names of any conservative teachers at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, because it's completely ruled by left wing or liberal academics."
It was because of this perception of the media being run by a liberal elite that led to the establishment of alternative news sources in America, such as Breitbart and why Fox News jumped on it. But that has evolved over the past 10 years in the United States - and today if you want to hear conservative news, you can get conservative news. Is the concept of impartial news now dead in 2021?
"I think that we have a little bit more pluralism [in France]. When I began my political career, I was a perfectly respected politician, I was elected in a perfectly normal vote. I've always been peaceful. But I wasn't invited to any public radio, nor TV channel. I was banned."
And so was Le Pen, according to Gollnisch, who at one time was invited only once to appear on state owned French television over the course of an entire year. Indeed it is this recurring theme of the "victim fighting the elite" that resonates across the planet for people who feel sidelined by golobalisation, multi-lateralism and the political status quo, and serenaded by promises of taking control of their destiny, while living in a connected world where cause and effect impact everyone's decisions. France in 2022 will be no exception.
This edition was produced & presented by David Coffey
Sound engineer - Nicolas Doreau
Vision mixing & editing - Vincent Pora
Bruno Gollnisch is an academic, politician and former MEP
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