World News: Macron Faces Islamo-leftism Controversary

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Tuesday, 23 February 2021 13:46

Written by Olivier Longhi

French Minster for Higher Education Frédérique Vidal ignited a debate on Islamo-leftism, which alleges a political alliance between leftist and Islamists at the University, exposing President Emmanuel Macron to a controversy carrying high political risks. Explanations.

This is a debate with polemical overs, which Emmanuel Macron would have gladly passed fourteen months before the first round of the presidential election scheduled for April 2022.

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Not that he is not able to confront it and extinguish it without delay, but the debate about the supposed spread of Islamo-leftism in the ranks of the university community has all the ingredients of the political trap.

However, before addressing the different facets of the trap in question, a definition of Islamo-leftism, a divisive, active, and real concept for some, especially in far-right circles, brilliant in its emptiness for others who do not hesitate to denounce an abuse of language, is necessary.

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Textually, then, Islamo-leftism is a neologism denoting a supposed sense of ideology and left-wing parties and Islamic or Islamist circles. Composed of the terms Islam and leftism, the term is also used to symbolize a political dividing line on the causes of jihadism.

Base and Space of Expression

What is the definition of higher education, why is the debate opened by Frédérique Vidal, Minister for Higher Education, causing so much concern in the majority and the ire of academia?

The answer lies first of all in the global situation that the executive today has to face, which has no desire to face on the one hand the scientific community, partly the foundation of its electorate, and, on the other hand, even less the desire to embark on an analysis on the weight and influence of Islamism in France.

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Sensitive subject, the question of Islamism associated with a potential tacit complicity of the academic circles against him in view of some theses put forward by him, is in no way on candidate Macron's agenda.

As the executive seeks at all costs to get out of the health crisis without resorting to new containment while containing the economic damage caused by pandemic-related restraints, a debate, if only superficial on the question of Islamo-leftism would be a perch stretched to the circles of the extreme right and especially to its main rival, presented as such in any case, Marine Le Pen who would find there a space of expression almost blessed.

Probability and Institutional 

Weak and ill-informed on economic issues, the president of the National Rally could easily navigate and use in this debate conspiracy theories that feed the far-right discourse, say course on which Emmanuel Macron has no hold because unfounded.

But the risk of having to engage in a collective explanation session aimed at clearing the scientific community of any manipulation suffered without disavowing a minister who has become an encumbrance is increasingly likely if the fire of the controversy is not immediately extinguished. Few solutions are available to the President of the Republic.

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If the dismissal of the Minister in question is one of them, it will only satisfy the university community without definitively closing the discussion. And if the controversy were to swell, an intervention by the President or the Prime Minister would be necessary at the risk of giving the debate an institutional twist with serious consequences.

The debate opened by Frédérique Vidal, relevant or not, poses the executive in the face of the slingshot of academics and a question that calls for a quick response to the risk of remaining clinging to the soles of the President.

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.