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Emmanuel Macron Elected as the President of France: End of the era of right wing populism?

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On February 13 of this year, the New York Times published an article citing a pro-Kremlin website about the 39-year- old former minister of the economy who had come up with his independent movement ‘En Marche (On The Move)’ only 9 months ago which read, “His speeches are too long and full of feel-good banalities. He does not have a real program. His time in government was a failure. He is secretly gay. He is developing a personality cult. He favors capitalism, and besides, he is too young”.

Even when this political virtuoso, still mooted as a novice in this ‘unlikely path’, took the world by storm by defeating Marine Le Pen as the new President of L’Elysee by securing 66% of the popular mandate, an article in Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Moscow-based tabloid newspaper, described him as a gay psychopath who hates his own country and is self-obsessed.

What is evident from these two reports from Russia is that the fear and desperation which forms the stratum of the February article, at the time when they were expecting a possible political situation in France on the lines of Trumpism in America and Brexit in Europe have today metamorphosed into delirious insecurity. Much to the frustration of these extremist institutions in Russia, USA and other parts of the world, this resounding victory is a win for Europe in particular and the global community in general.

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In a Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin-Theresa May dominated right-wing world, the election of this centrist leader can be seen as a sigh of relief and a matter of global celebration. With this new leadership, European Union will retain the principles of globalisation of people as much as of capital, through liberalised immigration. In a world increasingly overburdened with the refugee crisis, religious polarisation shall get a much-needed deacceleration, making at the same time German chancellor Angela Markel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believe that in this anti-protectionism struggle of theirs, this is a return to the era of Barack Obama.

One thing for sure, Macron’s fearless, ubiquitous and unwavering stance on immigration and open borders shall mean a lot to a nation like India, in terms of exchange of capital and a free flow of human resources between the two nations. Particularly, this new political wave of unity in the face of divisive forces would be a lesson for the people ofIndia to identify and rise above the forces behind its ideological divisions and discard the electoral Nazism of the ruling party in the centre and its ideological roots in the Sangh Parivar.

Quite fittingly, European Union anthem ‘Ode to Joy’ boomed as Macron walked to the Louvre stage in Paris for the victory speech.

Image Credits- 1. Marcon during his campaign. The Atlantic

2. Cartoon- New York Times

Nikhil Kumar

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