Demonstrations in France

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday May 02, 2002 16:12 by Brian Cahill - Socialist Party

A short eyewitness report on some of the many demonstrations in France from a member of the Committee for a Workers International.

The demonstrations in France were fantastic. Some journalists said it
was the biggest mobilisation since May '68 or even since the
liberation in 1944!
I first went to Amiens to assist the local CWI comrades. On the demo
there was about 4000, which is fundamentally more than last years 200
on the mayday demo. There was a strong CGT-contingent which included
PCF-members. The PCF-paper L'humanité ran a frontline saying
"Liberté, égalité, fraternité" (the slogan of the 1789 bourgeois
revolution...), but there was an open attitude to the left as there
is an interesting discussion taking place in the PCF-ranks following
the disastrous result of the 21 April election. Beside the CGT there
was a presence of the main trade unions (FSU, SUD, CFDT). I didn't
see the FO or CFTC. From the political groups there was a lively
group of the LCR and a small group of LO. The LCR changed its
position on the second round to calling to "vote against Le Pen"
which in the movement is understood as an appeal to vote Chirac. LO
is under heavy attack as they remain to their position to vote blanco
(to vote, but not for Chirac or Le Pen). Besides LO and LCR there
also was a group of the CNT (anarchists).
At the demo there was few youth, but still an important group of
students and schoolstudents took part. With the CWI comrades we
didn't have a contingent, but concentrated on talking with people,
selling material and distributing leaflets. There was a lot of
opposition to our position to vote blanco, but we didn't put it in
the way LO does (they say that finally a vote for Chirac is paving
the way for Le Pen, a position which closes possibilities to discuss
with the many genuine anti-fascists and anti-capitalists who will
vote Chirac). While we understand those who vote Chirac, we think
this wouldn't bring us any step forward. On the contrary, we say we
should only rely on the mass mobilisations which should continue
after the 5th of May as well, in the run-up to the June parlaimentary
elections.

We arrived at 15h in Paris, at the moment the demo was supposed to
leave. The demo in fact had to leave a bit earlier and the last
demonstrators could only leave the 'Place de la République' at 18h30.
We couldn't get through and stayed at the starting point of the demo,
it seemed as if the whole city was demonstrating.

From this huge resistance movement we can build the necessary forces
to be able to really stop Le Pen and Chirac and the rightwing
politics of the "Gauche Plurielle".