A Shameful Episode at Trocadéro

The French authorities are clearly nervous. Charlie Hebdo lit a fuse with its provocative cartoons, and certain zones of Paris have been placed off limits to demonstrators who might have a beef with the satirical newspaper. But the overzealous police seem to have taken the ban on demonstrations as license to cleanse the premises of anyone with the wrong racial identity. The treatment of the family described in the article is totally unacceptable in a liberal democracy, and the government should make amends to show that it understands this. (h/t Arun Kapil)

The Right to Vote for Foreigners

Seventy-five Socialist deputies have called on the president to make good on his promise to grant the right to vote in local elections to legal foreign residents of France. His interior minister, Manuel Valls, is hesitant to do so, however, because, as he euphemistically puts it, "there is no strong demand from the society" for such a move. Less delicately, he warns that any move in this direction would drive the right into the arms of the extreme right, possibly strengthening the enemy by weakening the deep internal division on the right that has done so much to empower the left. The reasoning is that, since foreigners would be expected to vote overwhelmingly for the left, even the non-xenophobic right would bitterly oppose the vote for reasons of self-interest rather than prejudice.

Yet a principle remains a principle. The 75 deputies are right. Hollande promised to grant the right to vote on principled grounds: legal residents of France should have a say in how they are governed. And if foreigners voted, all parties might be obliged to take greater account of their concerns and therefore take steps that could promote better integration.

71% on the Left Support Dismantling Roma Camps

There's no getting around it: the Roma camps have very little popular support, left or right. So Valls' policy is not likely to meet with much opposition.

Hollande Expels Illegal Roma

The Times:

“We’re dismayed,” Yann Lafolie, president of L’Atelier Solidaire, a Roma support organization, told Le Monde, adding: “There are many children who will be sleeping on the street tonight. Sarkozy never expelled us. In the end, it was the Socialists who did.”

Hollande and the Roma

This time, the words are more soothing and conciliatory, but the "dismantling" of Roma camps will continue, according to interior minister Valls, whenever a decision of the courts allows. Sarkozy polarized this issue unnecessarily, and created confusion between French travelers and Romanian immigrants, but the problem remains. The Roma are the largest minority population in Europe, numbering between 10 and 12 million. The new government should clarify what it means by alternative solutions and have something to propose besides dismantling and expulsions.

Gay Marriage for France

Jean-Marc Ayrault made several major announcements in his general policy speech today. One is that gay marriage and adoption will be legal in France from 2013. Another is that, as promised, foreigners legally residing in France for a requisite period will obtain the right to vote in local elections.

Elections do make a difference. Neither of these things--both major advances in my view--would have happened if Sarkozy had been re-elected.