Non Merci, M. Chirac

by knowing its all over now. Mon May 30, 2005 12:37

"France at crossroads", "France slams doors shut", "Lesson for leaders", "Second French Revolution", "Asterix says No!’ – these are some of the headlines in Swiss newspapers following the solid rejection of the EU constitution by French voters.

Le Matin got straight down to business: "The massive rejection of the constitution by 55 per cent of French people has started a crisis for Europe."

"The size of the rejection has created a new political upheaval in France, two years after the upsurge of the far right in the second round of the presidential elections."

The French-language paper believed one of the highest voter turnouts in France in recent decades "reflects the strong rallying of French people after a campaign which has gripped and split the country".
read:-
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5828119&cKey=1117441539000
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THE SWISS NOW VOTE ON DUBLIN!

Many asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected in the European Union's Schengen area try again in Switzerland.

If voters opt to join Schengen/Dublin in a ballot on Sunday, Swiss officials will be able to identify quickly and at minimal cost whether an asylum seeker has already applied in another Schengen country.

read:-
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=107&sid=5775075&cKey=1117444656000

"The French have opened the floodgates for further negative referendums."

The main Italian-speaking daily, Corriere del Ticino, said the political elite was sanctioned for its lack of respect for public opinion.

"The EU woke up with a hangover and the nasty feeling of being punished for somebody else's fault."

"Wrong" decision

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) said: "The first explanation of the rejection is that the voters grabbed the chance to teach President Chirac and his government a lesson."

"Another explanation is that the result is a result of fear and defence."

"The 'no’ was determined fundamentally by unrelated and emotional factors – and as such it was a 'wrong’ decision."

"This referendum should not, however, be interpreted as a renunciation of the EU. A withdrawal is not even being discussed in France."

Der Bund added: "The EU won’t collapse, but the constitution is dead. That means that the EU will remain weak when making decisions and it will lose all dynamism.

"Further political integration will not happen and the planned enlargement – especially that with Turkey – is out of reach.

"The economic goals of integration will take priority over everything else – which is why the leftwing 'no’ supporters have scored an own goal. Only a strong EU can resist the unbridled capitalism against which national states are powerless."

Suicidal arrogance

For Der Bund, there was "no argument against the fear of social disintegration, anti-globalisation, nationalistic reactions and general mistrust of Brussels".

It said the verdict of the French people didn’t come from a mood but from an intensive debate. "This gives the vote added weight."

However for the Basler Zeitung "the responsibility for the fiasco lies with the suicidal arrogance of the leadership in Paris, who forced the people into a decision, as though there were only one politically, morally and intellectually permissible answer".

Blame game

In the media blame game, French President Jacques Chirac was obviously prime target.

The Berner Zeitung declared: "After this voting battle there are few winners, but many losers – above all Jacques Chirac. The people have rejected their president as a leader – is that not a reason to resign?"

The NZZ didn’t think so: "He will, however, change his head of government – and then he’ll stick it out until the elections in two years."

"Chirac is standing before shattered remains," it added. "He organised a plebiscite in order to go down in history as a great president with a European halo. But things turned out differently – the lustre has gone."

People power

Some Swiss papers couldn’t resist smug digs when discussing the workings of referendums.

The Tages-Anzeiger said some people in Europe were doubting "whether it was right to let 'simple’ citizens decide on the fate of European integration".

"With referendums – perfectly natural in Switzerland – individual EU states are entering new political territory.

"Direct democracy only works properly when it’s not at the discretion of those in power if and when the people are consulted."

The NZZ noted that "the EU Council president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said before the vote that if there was a 'no’, the French would have to vote again in order to get the 'correct answer’.

"As Obelix, the heavyweight embodiment of so-called common sense, would ask: what’s the point in voting if you’re only allowed to say 'yes’?"

Der Bund hoped that "maybe in future diplomats in Brussels will have a greater appreciation for the unpredictable machinations of Swiss referendums".

swissinfo

Key Facts
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Almost 54.87 per cent of people voted "no", with 45.13 per cent in favour, according to final interior ministry figures.
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Turnout was high at about 70 per cent.
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The big cities tended to vote "yes" – apart from Marseilles. In Paris 66 per cent voted "yes".

In Brief
French voters have overwhelmingly rejected the European Union’s proposed constitution in a key referendum.

The vote could deal a fatal blow to the EU constitution, which needs to be ratified by all 25 members states before 2006.

Eight national referendums are still to come, including one in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

by Peter Schwartz - WSWS Mon May 30, 2005 13:27

EXTRACT:

"The “no” vote was, taken as a whole, not directed “against Europe,” despite the attempt of the conservative parties and their Socialist Party allies to cast opposition to the constitution in that light. One of the most popular arguments advanced over and over again at rallies opposing the constitution was that by rejecting it, the French people would be striking a blow for working people all over Europe."

Link to rest of article

by Con Carroll Mon May 30, 2005 14:39

What a result in France, never be ashamed to be working class standing up to the obnoxious right of europe. without a doubt it was the anti neo liberal political agenda which done alot of the work. one wonder will the stalinist right of Quinn, Rabbittee, De Rossa, Kenny, Bruton take note

by John Mon May 30, 2005 18:21

I hope we are not going to have any French-bashing or Dutch-bashing (after Wednesday) on this site. Its disappointing they voted no. But, there are good reasons. Both these countries have followed the high-tax high-government-spending economic model. As a result, their economies are in ruins, unemployment is sky-high and rising, emigration is at its highest since World War 2. Under these circumstances, people will vote against any proposal emanating from the government responsible. Ireland would likewise vote no, if we had 12 per cent unemployment, zero growth, massive emigration, budget deficits out of control etc. Fortunately we have full employment, 7 per cent growth, massive immigration and the government finances in huge surplus, so there is unlikely to be a protest 'no' vote in Ireland to anything like the same extent. I was in Florence and Paris last week and was continually being asked why the Irish economy is doing so well, when their economies are mired in stagnation and unemployment. I must say it made me feel quite proud to be Irish.

by donalde Mon May 30, 2005 20:50

sorry but did u ask yourself why the irish economy is doing so well? and does that make you proud? anyway, just wanted to know what the feeling is in ireland at the moment about the constitution - can anyone tell me? john u seem to think ireland will say 'yes'... ive yet to form an opinion yet tho cos i know so little about it.

by Ciarán Mon May 30, 2005 21:47

Eh, John you're overegging the pudding there. Ok, there are problems in France but the Netherland doesn't seem in that bad shape. The ten of thousands of North Africans who flock to these two countries are testament to continuing immigration and to the much more open approach to economic migrants and refugees by these countries, when compared with ourselves.

Proud to be Irish eh? Well we should certainly be proud of the fact that we are utterly incapble of independent economic activity. We needed the French and Dutch tax-payer to fork out billions for 30 odd years to get us going and we still needed to prostrate ourselves in front of US multinationals who already have plans to relocate. And this in the context of a tax system where workers, through PAYE and VAT, keep the country going. Corporation tax at 12.5% and still no guarantees that we'll economically viable in five years time. Anyone with any knowledge of European manufacturing or trade would know that France and Holland are, and will remain, at the heart of the European economy. Despite the nonsense in the business sections of the Irish papers, we're on the periphery and will remain there.

Now that there's a bit of unemployment and economic woe in France you'd think that you'd show a bit of solidarity and maybe set up a campaign to repatriate all the French tax-payer funded EU transfers we received over the years. They seem to need it and I'm sure they'd appreciate it. But no, alas, you wouldn't do that. Because that would mean having to face up to the much less palatable truth about our so-called economic success. Namely, the fact that we got a once in a lifetime at creating a fairer economy and society and we blew it big time. It grates to hear the hubris of Irish people purporting to lecture the French and Dutch about their economic shortcomings when these countries have economies that have survived much worse than the current problems and have continued to thrive.

While we squander our wealth on overspending, foreign properties, flash cars, and overpriced houses; pay through the nose of everything and still pay some of the highest taxes (PAYE and VAT) in the EU. No, there isn't much to be proud of and certainly we have not grounds to lecture other countries about the perceived shortcomings of their economies.

by Karl Debbaut - CWI Tue May 31, 2005 12:54

EXTRACT:

"France voted on the European constitution on Monday 30 May and, although a win for the no camp was predicted, the result came as a shock to the French and European establishment. 42 million people where eligible to vote and, on a turnout of 70 per cent, a massive 55 per cent voted for the "no", against 45 per cent for the "yes". Commentators are struggling to explain why such a clear majority of the French people decided to repudiate all mainstream parties, ignoring the scaremongering by the media and senior politicians. The French president Jacques Chirac, and Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the French Prime Minister, tried every trick in the book to cajole the electorate into voting yes. Chirac declared that France would only be able to defend its interests in Europe if it voted yes, the alternative being that it would "cease to exist politically, at least for a while". Raffarin warned of the, "spectre of chaos descending on France" and predicted, "long months of economic crisis" following a defeat and added, "I know Americans, Chinese and Indians who would not be angry to see a Europe - broken down by the side of the road".

Link to entire article:

by Con Carroll Tue May 31, 2005 13:41

The Irish economy is doing well so you say, this argument can be debated and debated. yes the economy is doing well for the rich. did? you see prime-time on the 23/05/ about the super rich friends of the Pds FIanna Fail Fine Gael, have you looked at the crisis within our health and education. the exploitation of asylum seekers in the work place. the situation of the gama workers. Did you see the prime- time programme last night about how eldery people are treated in private nursing home Leas
On the Anti EU constitution campaign there is a quiz in the teachers club 9/06/ and a public meeting on the 2/06/ Mansion house 20.00

by enquirer Tue May 31, 2005 14:20

If you have further details about those two events please post them in the events section.

by BlackPope Tue May 31, 2005 16:06

A big "fair-fucks-to-ye's" flies out to all the French who voted the right way to so gracefully administer this resounding kick in the slats to a very well-deserving set of little would-be European dictators.

As for M. Chirac, D'Estaing and about a million gravy-fattened Brussels Eurocrats, the message is loud and clear - "S'il vous plait, cease to exist politically, at least for a while."

Needless to add, the shameless asshats will continue to ignore that message and siphon the citizen's money into their own pockets until possibly forever.

For all you nice people out there who have forgotten 'NICE2', brace yourselves - this beastly Constitution is not dead yet - the EU superstate proponents will ruthlessly push the NICE2 pattern (ignore + manipulate referenda outcomes) now at an EU level, however, it is no longer a case of just bullying the Irish alone and as we can see, the French are no push-over.

In short, the really fierce battle is only just beginning. Ahern and his lickspittle cohorts have the brass-balls-skills to try and pull off another 'trick' on that front here and hope that Joschka 'muttonchops' Fischer & Co. will cover their asses again.

Welcome to EU-style 'Democracy'

Schalom, BP

PS: As 'Jesus H.' Bush always says, "This would be easier in a Dictatership - jist asloong's Ah get to be the Dictater, snurr, snurr!"