Why, asked a French mayor at the weekend, has he been ordered to fly his town’s flag at half-mast for the Queen until the day of her funeral? In expressing his indignation at Macron’s presidential decree, Patrick Proisy, the mayor of Faches-Thumesnil, a suburb of Lille, pointed out that Mikhail Gorbachev was accorded no such honour when he died. Yet he was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, an instrumental figure in tearing down the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe for half a century.
The refusal of Proisy, of the left-wing La France Insoumise, to comply with the order to lower his town’s flag as a mark of respect for the Queen has caused headlines in France. It has also created a backlash on social media. Proisy remains unrepentant, and he confronted his critics in a series of messages posted on Twitter. He extended his condolences to the British people, and stressed that he ‘had nothing personal against Queen Elizabeth’ but asked: ‘How can it be logical to fly flags at half-mast on our schools where the motto ‘Liberté, égalité, fraternité’ is written? No concept is further from equality than that of the monarchy.’
The last time a president of the Republic ordered flags to be flown at half-mast to honour the death of an international figure was in 2013 when Francois Hollande issued a decree following the death of Nelson Mandela.
But perhaps provoking a reaction in some left-wing quarters was the intended subtext to Macron’s decree?
Proisy is in a distinct minority but there are one or two other mayors who have ordered their flags to stay where they are. In justifying his contumacy, Yann Galut, the Socialist mayor of Bourges, said: ‘I have no problem with the French president expressing his solidarity, that’s normal. That he attends the funeral, that France expresses its sympathy, of course that is normal. But to pay a national tribute to a monarch in all the town halls of France, I, who am a Republican, am at a loss to understand…every country has its history and I respect it. But to fly the tricolore at half-mast when you know what royalty represents in our country is incredible.’
The French are very proud of their mairies; every village and town has one and they perform an important function in the community. It is the symbol of the Republic, as Proisy said, the incarnation of the guiding principles of the Revolution, of Liberty, Egality and Fraternity.
Fabien Roussel, who stood as the Communist candidate in this year’s presidential election, took a similar position to the two mayors when he responded to the death of the Queen. Acknowledging that they had little in common politically, Roussel nonetheless paid tribute to her sense of duty and expressed his ‘sincere sadness’ at her passing.
Some of those on the left feel Macron was being mischievous in issuing a decree to lower all flags for ten days. He must have known it would place many mayors in what the newspaper Liberation has described as a ‘difficult’ position. They have no wish to appear heartless but the British Royal Family is incompatible with their political convictions.
But perhaps that was the intended subtext to Macron’s decree, to provoke a reaction in some left-wing quarters? His voters, the affluent middle class and the elderly, are far more likely to have a soft spot for the Queen than those who voted for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s NUPES coalition.
Some on the left are limbering up for an autumn of street protests – over 100 demonstrators were arrested during skirmishes with the police on the streets of Paris on Saturday – and they are being egged on by Mélenchon. ‘If you are not offered democratic solutions, take action,’ he told his voluble supporters at a rally last week.
Melenchon was at the annual Fête de l’Humanité on Saturday, his first appearance in six years at the left-wing jamboree that this year attracted 400,000 people over three days. He was asked by a journalist what he thought of the extensive coverage of the Queen’s death in the French media, and his response bristled with contempt: ‘The media system is desperately poor, it’s the moment that interests them,’ he replied. ‘Now we’re going to stuff ourselves with the Queen for ten days.’
Macron’s eulogy to the Queen wasn’t just a moving tribute to a woman he genuinely admired, it was his way of reminding the French that, in his view, he upholds dignity, tradition and respect, while those on the left offer only chaos, disorder and disrespect.
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