Fires of unrest burned across France, protests gripped cities over the fatal police shooting of a teenager but, for Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, the moment had arrived for a recruitment drive.
“Restore order to France!” said one email attempting to attract new members on Sunday, illustrated with a photograph of policemen in riot gear marching through smoke.
The Rassemblement National (RN) party message was part of a push by Le Pen and her allies to capitalise on the crisis, attack Emmanuel Macron’s government and showcase their long-held hardline policies on crime and immigration.
The tactics appear to be working: an opinion poll conducted on June 30th showed that more people approved of Le Pen’s response to the crisis than any other French politician (39 per cent), followed by interior minister Gérald Darmanin and Macron himself (about 33 per cent).
As the unrest spread from Paris outwards, 27-year-old RN party chief Jordan Bardella unleashed a stereotypical right-wing tirade against the “savage hordes” of protesters, denouncing “completely crazy” immigration in France.
But Le Pen, who is preparing for an expected fourth presidential run in 2027, has attempted to cast herself as a more responsible figure – part of a two-decade effort to normalise her party’s politics. Le Pen has issued just one solemn video message since the protests began, with notably measured language.
Author and political analyst Chloé Morin thought the events were an “important political moment”. “Le Pen still has a lot of work to do to take the presidency but so far this week she has been canny and not made any mistakes,” she said.
The stakes are high for Macron and his centrist alliance as they try to halt Le Pen’s momentum. Their strategy has been to show that the application of current laws can restore order while not demonising the residents of the banlieue, the low-income immigrant neighbourhoods outside cities.
Macron is still working on his response to the crisis and has called for an “in-depth” examination of what led to the shooting and the ensuing explosive protests. “We are going to build solutions together,” he told a mayor whose home was almost burned down by attackers while his wife and children were inside.
Defending Macron’s approach, a French official said that “there has been a sort of race to call for the most authoritarian means to re-establish order”.
“Our main difference is that we took a gradual approach that is in keeping with the values of our republic and within the limits of the law. We have not listened to those who have called for radical measures,” the official said.
In contrast, Le Pen has promised much harsher medicine. Among her policies are trying young people in criminal proceedings as adults from the age of 16, not 18. Those convicted of crimes or more minor offences would lose the right to live in public housing or to receive welfare payments.
More prison beds would be opened. To combat what she calls “judicial laxism”, a system of mandatory minimum sentencing would be put in force.
The far-right has also revived a frequent critique that the banlieue and their largely immigrant residents receive too much government money, in contrast to poor rural communities that are neglected.
“The scum that we see pillaging stores, setting libraries and town halls on fire, all while laughing, they’re not doing this for Nahel,” said Edwige Diaz, a RN member of parliament from a rural area near Bordeaux, in an interview. “It’s an excuse to attack the police and everything that represents the republic.”
The police shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was of north African descent, has provoked starkly different reactions, with those on the left denouncing the police for use of excessive force and those on the right saying the driver’s behaviour showed the erosion of public order.
But public support for the police remained relatively strong, according to the poll conducted by Ifop-Le Figaro. About 57 per cent sided with the police, while 69 per cent endorsed a state of emergency to end the unrest – both chiming with RN positions.
The big losers in the poll, meanwhile, were far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Green politician Marine Tondelier, who have accused the police of systemic racism and argued for tighter controls to prevent shootings.
It is hard to predict whether these initial reactions will translate into a permanent shift in public opinion, and much will depend on how long the uprising lasts. There are signs that the revolt may be petering out amid mass police deployments and daily arrests.
But support for Le Pen’s agenda had already been increasing even before the tumult of the past week. A poll published this month by Ifop for Journal du Dimanche showed that 42 per cent of French voters said that they had already voted for an RN list or candidate, a significant uptick in the past few years. The party has gained traction in groups among whom it had previously been weak, such as retirees and the highly educated.
In May 2022, after she lost to Macron in the presidential election, the RN delivered a surprisingly strong performance in legislative contests, winning an unprecedented 88 seats, up from only eight before. That gave Le Pen’s party new legitimacy and furthered her push to “detoxify” the image of the movement started 50 years ago by her father, who has denied the Holocaust and espoused xenophobic ideas.
Le Pen was not the only rightwing politician in Europe attempting to capitalise on the riots. Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, tweeted a video juxtaposing scenes from Paris with serene Polish images, adding: “We do not want such scenes on the Polish streets.”
In Italy, far-right leader and long-time Le Pen ally Matteo Salvini blamed the riots on “years of laxity towards Islamic radicalisation and banlieues dominated by criminality”.
“Are we in the West or in hell?” he asked.
Despite the attacks, Macron has sought to resist the divisive rhetoric, stressing the unity of France. “We have never called for stigmatising parts of the population,” the French official said.
– Additional reporting by Amy Kazmin in Rome
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023