Marine Le Pen advocates an "adult" relationship with Africa, Achille Mbembe calls for it to be beaten
Marine Le Pen, candidate of the French far-right National Rally (RN) party in the presidential election in Paris, February 17, 2022. AFP - THOMAS SAMSON
Text by: Pierre Firtion Follow
4 mins
In a column in
Jeune Afrique
, the Cameroonian intellectual Achille Mbembe calls for a vote for Emmanuel Macron in order to
"counter the project"
of Marine Le Pen, which he describes as "
racist
".
The leader of the National Rally, for her part, publishes a forum in several French-speaking and English-speaking media on the continent, to present her vision of the relationship between France and Africa.
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It was about time… Three days before the second round of the presidential election, Marine Le Pen finally gives some clues as to what her African policy would be if she won the election on Sunday 24 April.
A project that clearly stands out from that of its opponent.
The far-right candidate says first of all that she does not want to place this relationship "
in a globalizing multilateral framework
", but to create "
an adult relationship, based on taking into account realities and legitimate interests, starting with the search for the stability of the continent
”.
Stability and security are, in his view, “
the
sine qua non
of Africa's development
”.
On the subject of the French military presence in the Sahel, Marine Le Pen claims to want to "
put an end
" to what she describes as a "
deadly stalemate
".
Marine Le Pen, supporter of non-interference
At the same time, the candidate of the National Rally advocates non-interference in the internal affairs of States in order to stop what she perceives as "
diplomatic inconsistencies
".
"
France,
she writes
, cannot at the same time accept the institutional situation created in
Chad after the death of President Idriss Déby
, while condemning the Mali of Assimi Goita and recognizing the junta of Colonel Damiba in Burkina Faso
" .
Promotion of the Francophonie, renovation of the French policy of cooperation, these would be the axes of its policy.
The far-right candidate, who "
challenges both unfounded repentance and nostalgia for yesteryear
", has visibly evolved on the issue of the CFA franc.
Very critical of this currency in 2017, she now sees in it "
a guarantee of stability for the economies of the franc zone
".
As a result, if she is elected, it will be up to
“
African states to decide whether they intend to continue this monetary cooperation with France
”.
In this text sent to various media on the continent, Marine Le Pen does not address the relationship with the continent from the migratory angle.
Yet this is the central part of his program.
The far-right candidate wants to stop immigration from the continent.
To do this, it proposes a whole set of radical measures: end of jus soli, abolition of family reunification, limitation of the right of asylum, hardening of access to French nationality.
And, beyond that, national preference which would give priority to the French in terms of housing, employment and social benefits.
Faced with countries that refuse to readmit their nationals expelled from France, Marine Le Pen brandished the threat last week.
“
Things will be very clear
, she declared on April 15 on BFM TV, as long
as they do not accept the readmission of people who are undesirable on our territory, there will be nothing left: there will be no there will be no more visas, there will be no more development aid, there will be no more money transfers, there will not even be any more capacity for the leaders of these countries to be able to own goods in ours
”.
“Block the
road to constitutional racism”
The Cameroonian historian and political scientist Achille Mbembe, close to Emmanuel Macron, judges this project to be "
diabolical in nature
".
He sees it inspired "
by the
laws of apartheid which were in force in South Africa
".
Under these conditions, abstention cannot be, in his eyes, an option.
“
How, on the morning of April 25, will the abstentionist gesture protect those of us struck by the “misfortune of color” from the Lepenist fury?
“
,
he questions before therefore calling to renew, “
without qualms
”, the outgoing president.
"
Except to afford the luxury of voluntary blindness,
writes the intellectual
, the one and only way to block the road to constitutional racism in France for the moment is to vote for Emmanuel Macron
".
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Presidential France 2022
Marine Le Pen
Emmanuel Macron
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