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Is Macron on his way to becoming an all-powerful President?

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By Rashme Sehgal

Marseilles: The French are pleased that the US President Donald Trump will join French President Emmanuel Macron at the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris to commemorate the centenary of the US entering the First World War on July 14.

Political power in France has a new look with Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister, becoming France’s youngest leader since Napoleon. The newly elected Parliament has a fresh, young look about it with 75 per cent of the new MPs who have won the electoral ballot having no political background.

Louis Tari, a financial analyst, pointed out, “For the first time elected deputies (parliamentarians) have come to work for society without carrying any political baggage. Macron has succeeded in breaking the old political structures that have dominated France for decades. He wanted the deputies to reflect the ground reality and in doing so, he has managed to put a more dynamic and younger team in place.”

The average age of the parliamentarians has come down by seven years and is now 48. Another first for this Parliament is that 223 of those elected are women.

Commenting on Macron’s mercurial rise, Yannick Mireur, a political scientist and author specialising in foreign policy who is running the think tank Nexus said, “Macron was a close aide of  Hollande but he resigned in 2014 to set up his own political ‘movement’ En Marche (Let’s Go). Within a month of his resignation, he announced his plans to become President thereby changing the political discourse of the country.

“It is clear that Macron has powerful supporters who have preferred to remain low key. Macron is seen as an outsider who may succeed in breaking an exhausted (political) system.”

Elaborating further, Mireur said, “The most far reaching changes he is expected to implement will be to change the labour laws in France in order to reduce the power of the labour unions. He is also expected to provide greater fiscal stability especially since the earlier socialist (Hollande) government kept changing the tax laws. And most important, Macron is also expected to provide greater tax breaks to French citizens and companies.”

The celebrated songwriter and French journalist Jean Pax Mefret offers a word of caution. “Both the right wing Republicans and the left leaning Socialists have been routed at the polls. Presently, the Republicans have emerged as the main Opposition party with 137 parliamentary seats but already many of their MPs have openly declared that they will support Macron on the key issue of labour reform.”

Mafret went on to state, “The extreme right wing Marine Le Pens party is down to a mere eight seats. With the opposition in complete disarray, power is now centred in Macron’s hands. That has made him extremely powerful and that is not good for democracy.”

Marie Clair who works as a chef in a local restaurant, is also apprehensive about Macron.

“I voted for him because he was young but I still do not know what he is like. We have to wait and watch. Like Napoleon he is 39 and the youngest president France has ever had but whether he will fulfil all his campaign promises is the key question,” said Marie.

Macron’s wife Brigitte Trognex , who was his drama teacher at the school in which the President studied in Amiens is 24 years older than him, but she receives nothing but praise from a cross-section of the women this reporter spoke to.

Said Clair, “His wife is a woman of tremendous courage. She is the quintessential woman. She has made him what he is today.”

Said Angelina, who has specialised in Oriental massage, “For a man to marry a woman who has been his own teacher, and also a mother of three children, is very unusual. But the French, and especially French leaders have a history of leading very complicated love lives.”

Former French President Hollande was living with a woman but this did not stop him from entering into a relationship with Julia Gayet who was 18 years his junior. Sarkozy divorced his wife the day he became President and then went on to marry former model Carla Bruni who was 13 years his junior. Another former President Francois Mitterand had a long relationship with an art historian and even had a daughter from her.

But relationships apart, Macron is also positioning himself as a global player. Macron was publicly critical of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate pact.

He is in favour of a strong Europe and is determined to forge a better relationship with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to achieve this objective.

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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Voting begins in United States

Over 82 million Americans have opted for early voting to cast their ballots for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris.

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Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump: Voting begins in United States

The Voting for the 2024 US presidential election has begun in the eastern time zone in America. Following months of intense campaigning by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican challenger Donald Trump, Americans will vote to choose their next president.

Reportedly, the first ballots were cast in the minutes after midnight (US time) in a tiny New Hampshire township along the US-Canada border. Over 82 million Americans have opted for early voting to cast their ballots for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Several pollsters have predicted a neck-and-neck contest, which brings the focus on the swing states to decide the fate of the presidential election.

Notably, in the United States, most states have a very clear preference for either the Republican or Democratic candidate. With this, only seven key swing states namely Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina will decide the result. Winning the majority of these aforesaid swing states is often essential for candidates aiming to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

In this election, Pennsylvania has emerged as the biggest prize between the two candidates. With the most electoral votes (19) than any other battleground state, Pennsylvania could possibly determine whether Donald Trump or Kamala Harris clinches the White House.

On the last day of campaigning, Republican nominee Trump and Democratic nominee Harris criss-crossed key battleground states and delivered closing remarks. Former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a return to power, held rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan while Vice President Kamala Harris addressed supporters in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.

Earlier in 2016, Donald Trump managed to make inroads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the three Great Lakes states that make up the blue wall or a Democratic stronghold. Nonetheless, in the 2020 US Election, US President Joe Biden wrested the states back to the Democratic camp.

Notably, to win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of electoral votes of 270 out of 538.

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Amid India-Canada diplomatic tensions, Justin Trudeau shares video of his Diwali celebrations

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

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Amid the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday shared a video of his Diwali celebration on social media platform X.

Sharing a 44-second video of his Diwali celebrations on social media, the Canadian Prime Minister wrote, “Happy Diwali! So many special moments shared celebrating with the community this week.”

This comes a day after India expressed its concern over the reports of cancelled Diwali celebrations in Canada.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Saturday, while addressing the media over Canada’s serious allegation against Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Nijjar, said it was unfortunate that the prevailing atmosphere in Canada has reached high levels of intolerance and extremism.

In the video, Prime Minister Trudeau showed off some colorful religious threads on his wrists, explaining that he received them during visits to three Hindu temples in Canada recently. He called them symbols of “good luck” and “protection,” adding with a smile, “I’m not taking them off until they fall off”.

Trudeau was also seen interacting warmly with the community, celebrating the festival, and enjoying delicious Indian sweets like jalebis, which he jokingly said he would “save for the team.”

On November 1, Trudeau posted on X, “Happy Diwali! Today, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Jain families will celebrate the triumph of light over darkness with festivities, candles, diyas, and fireworks. Wishing you all joy and prosperity during this special time.”

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Jaiswal said India condemns the recent allegations made by the Canadian government against Shah that he was purportedly involved in the killing of Nijjar and called it “absurd and baseless”.

Jaiswal also said that India had summoned the Canadian High Commissioner on Friday to protest in the strongest terms for the references made to the Union Home Minister of India before the Committee by Canada’s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister David Morrison.

On Tuesday, Morrison claimed that Shah orchestrated a campaign of violence, intimidation, and intelligence-gathering aimed at Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. He informed members of Canada’s national security committee in Parliament that he had confirmed Shah’s name to The Washington Post, which was the first to report the allegations. However, Morrison did not provide details on how Canada became aware of Shah’s alleged involvement.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

The Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks.

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India, China complete disengagement in Depsang, Demchok at LAC after 4 years standoff

In a significant development, India and China have completed the disengagement exercise in the Depsang and Demchok friction points at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The troops of both the countries are now verifying the vacation of positions and removal of infrastructure.

Reportedly, the Indian Army said that coordinated patrolling will start soon by both sides, and the ground commanders will continue to hold talks. The two sides will exchange sweets for Diwali tomorrow.

Earlier, Foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement to disengage in the remaining friction points at LAC in eastern Ladakh. After the agreement, the two countries began troops disengagement at the two friction points at Demchok and Depsang plains on October 23.

India-China relations worsened because of the Chinese troops’ aggression along the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border, in April 2020. It further deteriorated on June 15, 2020, after 20 Indian soldiers died in the line of duty thwarting the Chinese offensive in the Galwan Valley. New Delhi had said India’s bilateral relations with China will normalise only after the situation at the LAC returns to what it was before May 2020.

Reports said that the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two flashpoints, and have also dismantled temporary structures that had been built during the four-year-long standoff.

The Indian soldiers will resume their patrolling in areas that had been cut off because of the PLA’s presence. Nonetheless, the disengagement in Depsang and Demchok will not lead to the creation of buffer zones.

Both the countries had disengaged from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15) areas and created buffer zones. Speaking to a newspaper publication, Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), a former director general of military operations said that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok will facilitate patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength of the patrolling parties.

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