On November 5, 2022, local time, Paris, France, at the 18th Congress of the "National Alliance", Jordan Bardera was elected as the president of the new French far-right political party "National Alliance", and thanked the audience next to Marine Le Pen (left), leader of the French far-right party "National Alliance". Visual China map
For the first time since its creation in 1972, the president of France's largest far-right party, Rassemblement National (formerly the National Front), has not had Le Pen from his name. On November 5, the 18th Congress of the National Alliance was held in Paris, France, and Jordan Bardella, 27 years old, became the new party chairman with a landslide victory over his rival Louis Aliot with 84.84% of the vote.
The results are not surprising. Prior to this official appointment as president of the National Union, Bardella had been acting president for more than a year since September 2021 under the appointment of Marine Le Pen. During this period, Marine Le Pen, in order to better participate in the presidential election, handed over the management of the party's internal daily affairs to Bardella, and it was this opportunity that he increased media exposure and brought such a young "beautiful guy" from an Italian immigrant family into the public eye more frequently.
From the gangster-infested department of 93 to the left bank of the Seine
Bardella was born in 1995 in Drancy, in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in the northern suburbs of Paris. His father's grandparents came from Algeria, France's former colony, while his mother left Italy with her family in the 1960s in search of work. Like countless immigrant families who came to France in the last century, Bardella's parents chose the department of Seine-Saint-Denis as their first place to stay. As the department with the highest proportion of immigrants in France, 93 departments (the department number of the Seine-Saint-Denis department number 93) has both advantages and disadvantages. Diversity can solve many problems in the early stages of immigration, and the negative impact is obvious, and with the influx of migrants, the crime rate here is higher than in other parts of France, catalyzed by poverty due to failed integration.
As the only child in the family, the childhood Badella lived with his parents in "low-rent housing" (low-rent housing) provided by the government. This kind of welfare housing was originally designed to solve the housing problem of ordinary people, but in the era of his birth, the drug trade in 93 provinces grew rapidly, and with it, confrontations and fights between various gangs. The concrete vacant land in the middle of the low-rent housing has become a battlefield, and the towering tube building is a fortress for different gangs to dispatch troops and store supplies.
Of course, there are "good memories" of childhood, but Badra, who grew up in this "mass area" of Drancy, also abhors what can be called the stubborn security problems of the region. Just as he was passing by in 2016, he was stopped by someone who shouted at him: "We're going to kill you!" ”。 And his hometown has also become in some ways the most frequently cited negative example after he entered politics. For him, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis "has become a place of impossibility because drug traffickers make the laws there; Already a place that is not France, because women cannot go out dressed as they wish. ”
After passing the baccalaureate exam, Bardella entered the Sorbonne in Paris to study geography. The Sorbonne University in Paris is located on the left bank of the Seine, where higher education is gathered, and there are not only several universities, but also several elite schools unique to the French higher education system. Here, Bardella quickly found his interest. The young university student from the civilian class frequented the bars of the Latin Quarter, and in the intermingling of his affairs, he found more like-minded companions who believed in sovereignty, identity and nationalism.
Take a "hitchhiker" step by step to approach Le Pen
In addition, every Wednesday, Bardella routinely visits an apartment in the 13th arrondissement, where he joins other young members from the Front nationl (renamed the National League in 2018) to discuss strategies to carry their movement forward. Bardella, who had just arrived in Paris, the "city of light", was shy, but his meticulous dress made him stand out from the crowd of young party members. He began frequent in-depth discussions with senior members of the National Front who shared their experiences, even asking questions after them.
As for his technique, it's simple and simple: hitchhiker. But he always knows when to get off and always picks the next car that will take him to his destination. Florian Philippot was Bardella's first nobleman within the National Front, and as party vice-president, Filippo was mainly responsible for propaganda and party strategy. When the latter left the National Front because of a battle for line with Le Pen, Bardella chose to turn to Frédéric Chatillon, a far-right entrepreneur who was not only an important source of funding for the party, but also a close friend of Le Pen. And when the business figure was mired in a series of scandals, Bardella decisively chose to give his allegiance to Philippe Olivier, Le Pen's most trusted adviser. In addition to his advisers, Olivier is also Le Pen's brother-in-law, and in the near future, Olivier may become Bardella's father-in-law. This also means that from the perspective of kinship, Bardella can call Le Pen a sister-in-law with his wife in the future.
Always aiming to get closer to Le Pen, Bardella gradually and steadily approached the center of power of the "National Alliance". In addition to being a man of love, Bardella is also a master of propaganda. With his excellent eloquence, he appeared frequently in the media. And since his student days, he has often debated and made many veterans in the political world bow down in the studio.
In 2019, with the support of Le Pen, Bardella led the candidates of the "National Union" to the European Parliament elections. With 23.34% of the vote, the National Alliance even surpassed the then popular Republican Forward Party, founded by the current French President Emmanuel Macron. In the 2021 regional and provincial council elections, Le Pen placed Bardella in the most important Île-de-France region, which includes not only the capital of France, Paris, but also the surrounding industries and emerging technology industrial parks. Although the "National Alliance" finished in third place, still falling short of the expected result, this did not prevent Bardella from ushering in the highlight of his life. In September 2021, Le Pen appointed Bardella as acting president at a meeting of the National Alliance.
Le Pen, the "National Alliance" cannot turn the page
After the 2022 French presidential election, just as there was speculation about whether Le Pen, who failed to enter the Elysee Palace, would return to the party to continue as president, the "National Union" announced that the position of acting president of Bardella would be extended to September two months before the party congress. A successor has been decided, because Le Pen has more important tasks to accomplish. The National Alliance, the largest single opposition party in the National Assembly, has a total of 89 members, and Le Pen, as the president of the party, hopes to move the battlefield from France's old industrial areas to the heart of French power, the National Assembly.
As for Bardella, Le Pen hopes that he will not only be elected president, but must be elected by a high vote, in order to avoid any questioning within the party about Bardella and, more importantly, the Le Pen line pursued by Bardella. Even if Le Pen is no longer the titular leader of the party, her influence on the party her father founded will not end with a change of office.
Since succeeding her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, as party president in 2011, Marine Le Pen's reinvention of the far-right party has run deep into the marrow. And her "normalization strategy" against the far-right party has been very effective. Le Pen, who has participated in three presidential elections so far, failed to reach the second round in 2012, and in 2017 she reached the second round with the then rising Macron, and in the 2022 presidential election, her vote share in the second round was further reduced to Macron. This reflects her charisma, but it also shows that the National Alliance, which was dominated by street politics when she first took over, is now an important political force in France. Because of this, her line is enshrined in the party.
Perhaps it is the fledgling at the moment, or Le Pen's power in the party is still strong, whether Bardella took the stage and embraced Le Pen after being elected, calling him "the person who led himself to explore politics", or said in an interview that he has only one line, that is, "Le Penism", all of which are showing loyalty to Le Pen. In addition, in order to further consolidate the position of the Le Pen line in the party, Bardella also used his power after being elected president to remove a number of important party cadres from the National Council.
Therefore, it is not so much that the "National Alliance" turned the page of Le Pen, but that Le Pen chose a more favorable way for herself to write the book in the future. Indeed, Le Pen's strategy of "respect" to present a "responsible opposition" posture in parliament is being embraced by the French as parliament becomes the center of power in France. In the future, in her cooperation with Bardella, Le Pen is responsible for portraying the credibility of the "National Alliance", and Bardella is responsible for showing the radical side of the "National Alliance", and the cooperation between the two will inject new vitality into the "National Alliance" to achieve the goal of "opening the door to power".
According to the latest polls, Le Pen ranks second in the list of politicians whom the French hope to play a more important role behind former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. This momentum is gradually pushing Le Pen to change her position. As soon as the legislative elections ended in June, Le Pen said that she would no longer represent the "National Alliance" in the 2027 presidential election, except in "exceptional circumstances". But on November 8, in an interview with France's BFMTV television, she changed her story: "We will wait and see, and I will decide in due course whether I will become the representative of my political family on a case-by-case basis." ”
It can be seen that although she is no longer the president of the "National Alliance", Le Pen is still unmatched in the party, both in terms of party leadership and the appeal of party members. Perhaps, one day, when Le Pen really leaves the "family business" of the "National Alliance", this party will cease to exist.