“After the election shock, continue mobilising!” urge French school students
After the Front National topped the polls with 25% of the vote in the European elections in France, OBESSU’s French Member Organisation Union Nationale Lycéenne (UNL) joined national demonstrations for equality and solidarity.
On Thursday 29th May more than 30000 young people demonstrated in France against the far-right. In a protest organised by UNL, along with university student union UNEF and numerous other youth organisations, 8000 people protested in Paris, 2000 in Toulouse and Lyon, 1000 in Bordeaux and Marseille and 500 more in Caen. This mobilisation was largely spontaneous, having been launched the night of Sunday 25th May on social media.
In mobilising, these young people reiterate that the Front National is in profound contradiction to their values. On Thursday, by taking to the streets and on Wednesday when they held demonstrations to support their classmates whose studies were interrupted by a deportation, young people asserted their values of equality and solidarity.
It is important to note the responsibility of the government in producing these election outcomes. The government made the choice to adopt a policy of austerity, in contradiction to President François Hollande’s promise to give priority to youth. Since young people do not always see an alternative on the horizon to the precarity imposed on them, they end up doubting the utility of voting and political discourse. With the social crisis that pushes the downturn on to them, these must be noted as the main reasons for the record low turnout among young people and the steady progress of the far-right at the polls. This situation will not satisfy French school students.
Young people answered to those who banked on their silence. They demonstrated that they were not resigned to the far-right, nor to unemployment, precarity or to the inequalities of the education system. On Thursday, they made themselves heard and will stay mobilised to defend their values and force the government to consider their grievances.
UNL support the demonstrations against the far-right which will follow in the coming days.
Translated from the UNL website by Luke Shore
