French government vows deep attacks on the working class
Kumaran Ira ■ The cabinet reshuffle came after Hollande’s Socialist Party (PS) suffered a humiliating defeat in Sunday’s municipal elections, losing a record 151 cities of over 10,000 inhabitants. The neo-fascist National Front (FN), in contrast, won a record victory. It won 15 cities and obtained over 1,200 municipal councillor positions. Valls’ half-hour prime-time interview last night on TF1 television showed that the PS is responding to its defeat with a further shift to the right, appealing to pro-FN sentiment while pledging to implement free-market policies to benefit the banks. [...] As the Valls government intensifies austerity policies and makes law-and-order appeals, the main beneficiary within the political establishment will again be the FN [Front National]. This underscores that only the independent mobilization of the working class against the entire political establishment can halt the rise of neo-fascism in France.