PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Monday warned that the policies of his far-right and hard-left opponents could lead to “civil war,” as France prepared for its most divisive election in decades.
French politics were plunged into turmoil by Macron calling snap legislative elections after his centrist party was trounced by the far-right National Rally (RN) in a European vote earlier this month.
Weekend polls suggested the RN would win 35-36 percent in the first round on Sunday, ahead of a left-wing alliance on 27-29.5 percent and Macron’s centrists in third on 19.5-22 percent.
A second round of voting will follow on July 7 in constituencies where no candidate takes more than 50 percent in the first round.
Speaking on the podcast “Generation Do It Yourself,” Macron, 46, denounced both the RN as well as the hard-left France Unbowed party.
He said the far-right “divides and pushes toward civil war,” while the hard-left France Unbowed party, which is part of the New Popular Front alliance, proposes “a form of communitarianism,” adding that “civil war follows on from that, too.”
Earlier Monday, French far-right leader Jordan Bardella said his RN party was ready to govern as he pledged to curb immigration and tackle cost-of-living issues.
“In three words: we are ready,” Bardella, the RN’s 28-year-old president told a news conference as he unveiled his party’s program.
Bardella, credited with helping the RN clean up its extremist image, has urged voters to give the euroskeptic party an outright majority to allow it to implement its anti-immigration, law-and-order program.
“Seven long years of Macronism has weakened the country,” he said, vowing to boost purchasing power, “restore order” and change the law to make it easier to deport foreigners convicted of crimes.
He reiterated plans to tighten borders and make it harder for children born in France to foreign parents to gain citizenship.
Bardella added that the RN would focus on “realistic” measures to curb inflation, primarily by cutting energy taxes.
He also promised a disciplinary “big bang” in schools, including a ban on mobile phones and trialling the introduction of school uniforms, a proposal previously put forward by Macron.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of Macron’s Renaissance party poured scorn on the RN’s economic program, telling Europe 1 radio the country was “headed straight for disaster” in the event of an RN victory.
On Tuesday, Attal will go head-to-head with Bardella in a TV debate.
On foreign policy, Bardella said the RN opposed sending French troops and long-range missiles to Ukraine — as mooted by Macron — but would continue to provide logistical and material support.
He added that his party, which had close ties to Russia before its invasion of Ukraine, would be “extremely vigilant” in the face of Moscow’s attempts to interfere in French affairs.
Macron insisted that France would continue to support Ukraine over the long term as he met with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
“We will continue to mobilize to respond to Ukraine’s immediate needs,” he said alongside Stoltenberg at the Elysee Palace.
The election is shaping up as a showdown between the RN and the leftist New Popular Front, which is dominated by the hard-left France Unbowed.
Bardella claimed the RN, which mainstream parties have in the past united to block, was now the “patriotic and republican” choice faced with what he alleged was the anti-Semitism of Melenchon’s party.
France Unbowed, which opposes Israel’s war in Gaza and refused to label the October 7 Hamas attacks as “terrorism,” denies the charges of anti-Semitism.
In calling an election in just three weeks Macron hoped to trip up his opponents and catch them unprepared.
But analysts have warned the move could backfire if the deeply unpopular president is forced to share power with a prime minister from an opposing party.
RN powerhouse Marine Le Pen, who is bidding to succeed Macron as president, has called on him to step aside if he loses control of parliament.
Macron has insisted he will not resign before the end of his second term in 2027 but has vowed to heed voters’ concerns.
Speaking on Monday, Macron once again defended his choice to call snap elections.
“It’s very hard. I’m aware of it, and a lot of people are angry with me,” he said on the podcast.
“But I did it because there is nothing greater and fairer in a democracy than trust in the people.”
Macron warns far-right, hard-left policies could lead to ‘civil war’
https://arab.news/my75u
Macron warns far-right, hard-left policies could lead to ‘civil war’
- French politics were plunged into turmoil by Macron calling snap legislative elections after his centrist party was trounced by the far-right National Rally (RN)
Kremlin calls Ukrainian response to Putin’s ceasefire offer ambiguous, calls for clarity
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said his comments amounted to a threat
MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Saturday it wanted a definitive response from Ukraine to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of a three-day ceasefire next week, criticizing the reaction so far as ambiguous and historically wrong.
Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 — when Putin will host international leaders on Moscow’s Red Square, including Chinese President Xi Jinping — and May 10.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to rule out such a brief ceasefire earlier on Saturday, saying he was only ready to sign up to a ceasefire that would last at least 30 days, an idea Putin has said needs a lot of work before it could become a reality.
Zelensky also said that Ukraine, given the continued war with Russia, could not guarantee the safety of any foreign dignitaries who came to Moscow for the May 9 parade.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said his comments amounted to a threat, while Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said nobody could guarantee that the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv would survive to see May 10 if Ukraine attacked Moscow during the May 9 celebrations.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov convened a special conference call after Zelensky’s comments.
He told reporters that Putin’s three-day offer had been a test to assess Kyiv’s readiness to search for a peaceful settlement to end the war.
“The reaction of the Ukrainian authorities to Russia’s initiative to introduce a ceasefire is a test of Ukraine’s readiness for peace. And we will, of course, await not ambiguous but definitive statements and, most importantly, actions aimed at de-escalating the conflict over the public holidays,” Peskov said.
He accused the Ukrainian authorities of espousing “neo-Nazism,” an allegation Kyiv has repeatedly rejected as false, and of not considering the victory over Nazi Germany to be important enough to mark properly.
Peskov also commented on media reports that Ukrainian soldiers will take part in World War Two commemorations in Britain, calling the move “sacrilege.”
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second three-year term
- Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election
- The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling center-left Labour Party 70 seats
MELBOURNE: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying, “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.”
“Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It’s a historic occasion for the Labour Party and we recognize that,” he added.
The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling center-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments. Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats.
Australian Broadcasting Corp. respected election analyst Antony Green predicted Labor would win 76 seats, the coalition 36 and unaligned lawmakers 13. Green said Labor would form a majority or minority government and that the coalition had no hope of forming even a minority government.
Energy policy and inflation have been major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost of living crisis.
Opposition leader branded ‘DOGE-y Dutton’
Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party blames government waste for fueling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to ax more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.
While both say the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on more nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.
The ruling center-left Labour Party has branded the opposition leader “DOGE-y Dutton” and accused his party of mimicking US President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Labor argues Dutton’s administration would slash services to pay for its nuclear ambitions.
“We’ve seen the attempt to run American-style politics here of division and pitting Australians against each other and I think that’s not the Australian way,” Albanese said.
Albanese also noted that his government had improved relations with China, which removed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that had cost Australian exporters 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year since Labor came to power in 2022.
A cost of living crisis as the country faces generational change
The election is taking place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis.
Foodbank Australia, the nation’s largest food relief charity, reported 3.4 million households in the country of 27 million people experienced food insecurity last year.
That meant Australians were skipping meals, eating less or worrying about running out of food before they could afford to buy more.
The central bank reduced its benchmark cash interest rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1 percent in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank’s next board meeting on May 20, this time to encourage investment amid the international economic uncertainty generated by Trump’s tariff policies.
Both campaigns have focused on Australia’s changing demographics. The election is the first in Australia in which Baby Boomers, born between born between the end of World War II and 1964, are outnumbered by younger voters.
Both campaigns promised policies to help first-home buyers buy into a property market that is too expensive for many.
The election could produce a minority government
Going into the election, Labor held a narrow majority of 78 seats in a 151-seat House of Representatives. There will be 150 seats in the next parliament due to redistributions.
A loss of more than two seats could force Labor to attempt to form a minority government with the support of unaligned lawmakers.
There was a minority government after the 2010 election, and the last one before that was during World War II.
The last time neither party won a majority, it took 17 days after the polls closed before key independent lawmakers announced they would support a Labor administration.
‘Unremitting violence’ against Myanmar civilians must end, says UN rights chief
- More than 200 civilians were killed in airstrikes last month after March’s devastating earthquake killed at least 3,800
- Warring factions in civil war launched ‘relentless attacks’ despite month-long ceasefire
NEW YORK CITY: Civilians in war-torn Myanmar are facing “unremitting violence” despite a month-long ceasefire that was reached in the wake of March’s devastating earthquake, the UN’s human rights chief has said.
It comes after the country’s military regime launched at least 243 attacks since the March 28 earthquake.
More than 200 civilians were reportedly killed in the strikes.
“Amid so many crises around the world, the unbearable suffering of the people in Myanmar cannot be forgotten,” Volker Turk said on Friday.
“The vast majority of attacks happened after April 2 when the Myanmar military and the National Unity Government announced unilateral ceasefires,” he added.
The earthquake in March killed more than 3,800 people and decimated infrastructure across the country.
More than 55,000 homes were damaged and destroyed across several regions of Myanmar.
The disaster compounded an already dire humanitarian situation in the Southeast Asian country, with more than one-third of the population of almost 20 million people requiring assistance even before the earthquake.
The country’s military regime and the opposition National Unity Government announced a temporary ceasefire after the disaster.
It was extended in mid-April and expired on April 30.
Civil society sources recorded repeat violations of the ceasefire by the military, including numerous attacks on civilian rescuers shortly after the earthquake.
Myanmar’s civil war, which began in 2021, has killed almost 80,000 people.
“Families already displaced by years of conflict now face early torrential rains, extreme heat and rising risk of disease” in the wake of the earthquake, the UN said.
According to a World Health Organization report published on Friday, more than 450,000 people in Myanmar require critical health services, but only about 33,600 have been reached.
Turk warned that the “relentless attacks” carried out by warring parties in the country are “affecting a population already heavily beleaguered and exhausted by years of conflict.”
The fighting is also disrupting efforts to deliver essential aid to people across Myanmar, he added.
“International law is clear that humanitarian aid must be able to reach those in need without impediment,” Turk said.
“This is the time to put people first, to prioritize their human rights and humanitarian needs, and to achieve a peaceful resolution to this crisis.”
UN officials in Myanmar have also sounded the alarm on the deteriorating situation in the country.
Marcoluigi Corsi, humanitarian and resident coordinator ad interim for Myanmar, spoke to the press in New York City via video link from Yangon on Thursday.
One month on from the earthquake, “the suffering is immense and the stakes are very high,” he said.
Corsi called on the international community to urgently deliver their pledged aid amounts, and that “without timely action, the crisis would get worse.”
Early last month, the UN and its humanitarian partners launched a $275 million appeal as an addition to a major humanitarian strategy to reach about 1.1 million people in need across Myanmar.
Yet the appeal has only received $34 million in pledges, Corsi said, adding: “Lives depend on our collective commitment to delivering the support that is desperately needed … the time to act is now.”
Russia accuses Zelensky of making ‘direct threat’ to May 9 events
- “He is threatening the physical safety of veterans,” Zakharova said
MOSCOW: Russia on Saturday accused Volodymyr Zelensky of threatening the security of its World War II commemorations on May 9, after the Ukrainian president said Kyiv would not “take responsibility” for ensuring safety on the day.
“He is threatening the physical safety of veterans who will come to parades and celebrations on the holy day,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram. “His statement ... is, of course, a direct threat.”
Terminally ill Syrian woman permitted to enter UK after govt U-turn
- Soaad Al-Shawa has been given weeks to live by doctors
- She was initially denied request to see her daughter and son-in-law who fled Syria in 2015
LONDON: A Syrian woman dying of cancer will travel to the UK to see her grandchildren, whom she has never met, after a UK Home Office decision.
Soaad Al-Shawa, who has liver cancer and has been given just weeks to live by doctors, was initially denied a family-reunion request by the UK government, The Guardian reported.
She had asked to travel to Britain to meet up with her daughter Ola Al-Hamwi, son-in-law Mostafa Amonajid, and their three children, aged seven, five and one.
The family fled Syria in 2015 — unable to take Al-Shawa with them — and now reside in Glasgow. Since then. Al-Shawa has only communicated with her grandchildren via video calls.
She received a terminal cancer diagnosis late last year, and her daughter applied for a refugee family reunion in the UK, which was rejected. The family appealed and, in April, an immigration judge agreed to overturn the decision.
However, the UK Home Office later sought permission to appeal the judge’s ruling, in a move that may have taken at least eight months.
Al-Shawa may not have that long to live, with her daughter saying at the time that the decision was “breaking her heart.” Now, the Home Office has told the family’s lawyer it is withdrawing the decision, meaning Al-Shawa can travel to the UK, and that it will also expedite the issuing of a visa for her.
Al-Hamwi hopes that the visa will be processed in Jordan this weekend, and that her husband can travel there to collect her mother. Refugees cannot return to the country they fled from neither Al-Hamwi and Amonajid are able to enter Syria.
Al-Hamwi said: “My mum really perked up when she heard the news and started to eat more. All she wants to do before she dies is to see us and the kids.”
Amonajid said: “I appreciate the Home Office for listening to Ola and me. The kids are so excited they are finally going to meet their grandmother. She will be sleeping in their bedroom and they are fighting over who will sleep next to her.”
The family’s solicitor, Usman Aslam of Mukhtar & Co, said: “We welcome the Home Office decision to withdraw from this case and, moreover, to assist in expediting it.
“We now hope that a daughter and mother can spend whatever time the mother has left together. Refugees are no different from anyone else. They, too, have lives, families and dignity.”
