It feels like France is turning into a dictatorship — and here’s why
(07.11.20)
France was the birthplace of modern European democracy, with the First French Republic being in place as early as 1792. Many know the famous French motto: Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité (Freedom, Equality, Fraternity). The French are extremely attached to these principles, and its seems that they may be under threat.
President Emmanuel Macron was elected in 2017, and seemed like a progressive voice for the French republic. However, just a year later, in 2018, a movement was born: the Gilets Jaunes (“Yellow Vests”). It all started with an oil tax, and then the movement quickly started criticising other aspects of Macron’s presidency thus far (such as repealing the wealth tax, austerity and traffic cameras). And this is when it started feeling like Macron was exercising power as if he were the head of an authoritarian régime. He send thousands of policemen who injured many civilians by either punching them, throwing tear gas or shooting “flashballs” (rubber bullets). And ever since, the Police have been more armed than ever, some policemen carrying guns over 3ft long.
Until now, many allegations of police brutality have been going unnoticed by the President, and these allegations didn’t come in a small number.
Then came COVID-19. A surprise for us all, and an occasion for Macron to militarise the police to a level that France has never known. Wherever you go these days, the sight of an unarmed police is now extremely rare, as most of them now have all sorts of guns, armor, helmets and shields, compared to a couple of years ago when most policemen were just normal people dressed in a blue uniform.
Furthermore, the President’s party (LREM) who has a majority in the National Assembly seems to be extremely divided, and many of those who are either unsure or who disagree with the President (and his Prime Minister) are silenced — thanks to the 49th Article of the 1958 Constitution, the Government are allowed to pass legislation through without a vote from the National Assembly. This Article was rarely used, until now; it has been used to pass extremely unpopular legislation through that the Government knew would not go through on the basis of a National Assembly vote.
Meanwhile, in America, the Black Lives Matter movement was flourishing, and the demand for police reform was exponentially growing. So, the French Government decided they would do a police reform: only that reform that is currently a project and is expected to be voted in the National Assembly soon, would make it illegal for a person to film or take a picture of a policeman (€45,000 fine in case of violation), and the police would be allowed to fly drones around towns and cities.
All of this to say, that the excessive militarisation, the brutality of the police, the unability for anyone to record evidence of police brutality and the prospect of drones flying in air spying on people makes France seem more and more like George Orwell’s 1984 dystopian world.
