Patrice de Beer
Catalonia’s December 21 elections
It is time for the Spanish establishment to realise that their country, like any other democracy, can’t be maintained harmoniously only by threatening the use of force and prison sentences.
Catalonia: now what?
The time has come for Europe to make its voice heard, after Madrid’s brutal repression and failure to listen to many of its own people. “Rajoy has shown himself unable to foresee the crisis which has been brewing ever since the Constitutional Tribunal invalidated the “Estatut” in 2010.”
Macron and absolute responsibility
If there were one word to characterise these elections, it was crafted by Melenchon and is “dégagisme”, or cleaning-out.
Old country, young president
The French have used their democracy to give this young man in an old country a chance to experiment with a new type of politics. But have we tried everything?
Catalonia revisited: farewell to great expectations?
History has shown that the fight of even a united people for independence is often a hard and protracted struggle.
Front National: victorious defeat
Patrice de Beer, the former London and Washington correspondent for Le Monde asks if after the recent regional elections, will the French be able to stop FN from finally breaking through the fragile glass ceiling?
A gloomy, rudderless France
It seems a hopeless task, as we see President François Hollande slide lower and lower in this slippery slope of unpopularity, now around 13% in opinion polls. But he is not alone. The entire élite class shares in this negative image amongst the population.
France and the European elections
Both UKIP and the French National Front (FN) have rocked the political landscape of their countries. But, why are so many French voters listening to slogans they have rejected for so many years? Why are so many young people, and even immigrants, voting FN today?
Bonjour Tristesse
French parliamentarians – left or right, including the Socialist Speaker of the House – stick tooth and nail to their perks. The opposition is crying out against what they call being taken back to the times of Robespierre’s “Terror” under the French Revolution. François Hollande has the unenviable task of trying to give voters more confidence in their politicians who are generally considered to be corrupt.