 |
In recent times, almost all over the world, we are witnessing an unprecedented rise of autocratic governance, and surprisingly, among democratically elected governments. On the other hand, what is heartening is that there’s also a surge in citizens’ initiatives, advocating participative, transparent and just governance. “La Primaire Populaire” is one such innovative initiative happening in France, in the run up to the Presidential elections of April 2022.
Background
In the Presidential elections of 2017, the surprise winner Emmanuel Macron, managed to marginalize in the first round, the candidates from the traditional mainstream parties such as “Parti Socialiste” (Center Left) and “Les Républicains” (Right). In the second (and final) round, he defeated the far right candidate Marine Le Pen with considerable ease. Ever since, his government formed with a medley of ministers from both Left and Right parties, as well as some from the business fraternity, had to face some serious challenges and unpopularity, with his handling of the many crisis such as Yellow Vest (Gilets Jaunes), The Citizens' Climate Convention (La Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat), Covid (mis) management and the imposition of the health passport as a prerequisite to access several services. Despite these apparent cracks and difficulties, as the opposition on both Left and Right of the political spectrum stands divided, the Macron-Le Pen dual is predicted to be a likely possibility in 2022.
Given this background, some very spirited citizens have taken upon themselves the challenge to help secure a common candidature of the Left-Green family, mainly comprising of the La France Insoumise (Left), Parti Socialiste (PS) and Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV-Green Party). A daunting task given that the aspirants, in particular for PS and EELV are a bit too many.
It is worth noting that this same experiment was also tried in 2016, just before the presidential elections of 2017. However, at that time, the political parties were kept outside this exercise [1].
The French Primaires
The “Primaire” in France is a mechanism of electing a candidate through voting by the party adherents. It is often preceded by televised debates (ranging various policy themes such as economy, education, health, internal security, foreign affairs, etc.) among aspirants, organized by journalists. After the debate, there’s voting and the first two candidates are selected for the second round, which again is preceded by a debate between the two shortlisted candidates. However, not all political parties abide by this mechanism of Primaire. For instance, La France Insoumise usually does not have a Primaire and instead declares (as in the past) its founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon as its candidate. The PS is still undecided whether to hold a Primaire or to declare a unanimous candidate. While the Europe Ecologie Les Verts are sticking to the ritual of the Primaire.
La Primaire Populaire
The citizens’ initiative, the Primaire Poulaire on the other hand is open to all French citizens, aged above 16 years. On their website (https://primairepopulaire.fr/), until 11 October, citizens can recommend (parrainer) as many candidates as they wish. The candidates could be from the existing political parties of the Left-Green family or could be any citizen who manages to receive at least 500 recommendations. After 11 October, the first 5 women and 5 men will be shortlisted and invited for a debate, followed by a voting to be held between 13-16 January 2022 [2]. However, there are two prerequisites: Firstly, that they shall respect the result of the Primaire Populaire in supporting the elected candidate and would not maintain their candidature for the Presidential in case they lose the final voting. Secondly, they shall abide by and ratify (signature) the Common Minimum Programme (Socle Commun) proposed by the organisers of the Primaire Populaire [3]. If any candidate refuses these two conditions s/he shall be removed from the shortlisting and the next candidate in the list shall be invited for the debate.
On 1st October 2021, the number of registered citizens on the website of Primaire Populaire were 1,23,445 out of total 47.7 million eligible voters [4].
Publicity
In the absence of any established media clout and resources, the daunting task of make spread the news about the existence of such initiative, inviting maximum citizens to enroll and participate before 11 October, lies on the shoulders of some spirited volunteers and the efficiency of word of mouth. The volunteers are organizing several online webinars to help propagate the idea as well as to engage and talk to people directly. In some locations, volunteers organise weekly meetings to assess the progress and to strategies collectively.
Financing of the Primaire Populaire
The conceptualization and the organization of the Primaire Populaire do have considerable financial implications. There are around 15 salaried employees [1]. Further, the expenses are also meant for organization of training of volunteers during weekends, services of the legal team, social media campaigning, etc. The estimated budget is 7,00,000€ [5]. All these expenses are meant to be borne out through donations as well as by making the final voting in December open to all citizens above 16 years and against a token contribution of 2€ each.
Conclusion
The Primaire Populaire does bring in effervescence, enthusiasm and hope through collective and active participation of citizens in an otherwise gloomy and predictable political spectrum. Its ingenuity however lies in the fact that instead of rallying behind a candidate whose political program seems appealing, it is instead channelizing aspirant candidates to align with the Common Minimum Programme (Socle Commun), formulated as a consensual outcome of recent citizens’ movements. Some of the key measures of the Common Minimum Programme are: Climat laws, Constitutional changes to the 5th République, possibility of Referendums initiated by Citizens (Référendum d'Initiative Citoyenne), etc. [3]. The Primaire Populaire has the idealistic mission to help emerge a common candidature among the Left-Green family and the pragmatism of settling for a Common Minimum Programme. What is also unique is the fact that the possibility of emergence of such a common candidature among the Left-Green Family, of their collective will and initiative, would have been very difficult and unlikely. It had to come from outside, through people’s mobilization and leadership. And thus, the success of this undertaking also lies in garnering substantial participation by citizens so that it is considered serious, legitimate and biding by the aspirants.
In any case, some very interesting times ahead for emergence of true participative democratic practices.
[1] https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/provence-alpes-cote-d-azur/bouches-du-rhone/marseille/la-primaire-populaire-sur-les-traces-du-printemps-marseillais-pour-propulser-un-candidat-unique-a-gauche-en-2022-2247187.html
[2] https://www.20minutes.fr/elections/presidentielle/3147387-20211013-presidentielle-2022-vote-primaire-populaire-prevu-13-16-janvier
[3] https://primairepopulaire.fr/le-socle-commun/
[4] https://primairepopulaire.fr/
[5] http://primairepopulaire.fr/page-explicative-du-don/
No comments:
Post a Comment