| | |  Editorials | Issues 
53% Absence in the Polls: Can We Learn from France?
 Guillermo Ramón Adames y Suari - PVNN
March 22, 2010
 |  | The people that did not vote are medium high to low income. They simply do not see a future for the country nor for themselves. |  | | |
Last weekend, France had the first round of regional elections. These elections particular to France, considers groupings of various states (4 or 5, depending on France's region). What were voted for were basically common projects presented by several independent states. Take for example the south of the US from California to Texas together in a training project including top universities and scholars. Budget is huge in those elections. Projects were ambitious and were supposed to lead France into the future.
An average of almost 53% of voters did not show up to vote in France this time. The question here is why? A country with such a political consciousness. Before, voting rates were in the whereabouts of 70/80%.
The results which were presented are: the average French citizen is fed up with politics. They are fed up with parties' discussions. They are tired that the "people's representatives" fight each other and that there are no results for the country. They are tired of paying with their taxes those representatives' salaries. They are tired that unemployment in absolute numbers keeps growing and those "important politicians" give no results. They are tired of unfulfilled campaign promises and the economical level of expenditure of those politicians for themselves. If that were all, we could simply say that that is the average of most countries and politicians are no different from one country to another.
But France's problem is different: The people that did not vote are medium high to low income. They simply do not see a future for the country nor for themselves. The state is overwhelmed with debts between the payment of pensions and the current expenditure of the government. Important enterprises are no longer created in France. Only big American or foreign enterprises open some kind of representation in France. There is little or no recruitment. Small enterprises are founded but not enough to pour money into the government. Education no longer gives an employment at the end of a study cycle, whichever cycle and whichever training. The morale is as low as it can get. The social tissue is decomposing. Tourism is not working: France is more expensive than most European countries (with the exception of Switzerland and Moscow). France is reaching the point in which taxes will no longer be able to pay for government expenditure, for government projects and pensions. When they reach that point: Then what: More taxes?
The average French citizen has noticed the economic situation has been going down the drain for the last 10 years at least. They realize that the government has no clue where the country is leading to. A great deal of talking but at the end of the day, no initiatives from the government to generate any type of employment. Employment seems to be today's key issue.
To sum up, those were their reasons for not voting: Will we learn from France?
Guillermo Ramón Adames y Suari is a former electoral officer of the United Nations Organization. Contact him at gui.voting(at)gmail.com |
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