“This National Assembly is a reflection of the country, but the country does not trust it,” notes essayist Jad Zahab.

Jad Zahab est favorable, entre autres, à la proportionnelle. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Jad Zahab is an essayist, community activist, and author of “Retrouver la République face à la crise des connaître”.

Do you find in the current unprecedented political situation elements of what you call in your latest book “the crisis of democratic consent”  ?

I think we are in a very original and very French situation. In fact, last July, the French elected the most representative National Assembly in the country, even more so than the one they elected in 2017. The balance of political forces has never been so representative of what society really is.

And yet, an Ipsos poll released last week says that 73% of people do not trust this Assembly, or at least the political staff they sent to this Assembly. It is a paradox: this Assembly is the image of the country, but the country does not trust it.

However, French voters returned massively to the polls for these legislative elections, a strong democratic gesture?

Yes, there, I recognize that we could have come out of this crisis of democratic consent with the extremely high voter turnout on this occasion, the highest since 1997. So people are going to vote, that legitimately produces an expectation. And there, the country is still waiting for the results that elections should normally produce.

That is to say, appointing a new government. And there, the risk is to allow the idea to be instilled in the minds of the country that, ultimately, legislative elections have no impact on government policy.

However, there is already in the country, among conspiracy theorists, and part of the far left and the far right, this idea that France is not a democracy, that the people no longer decide, that only the elites decide, etc.

And this wait is so long that it can produce this, the government that will be appointed can reinforce this. And this is serious, because if there was a surge in participation, it could be the last one before the final blow. Which would no longer be democratic non-consent, but a clear democratic rupture.

Isn't there also a subject of political culture? We had a result close to that of a proportional vote, which citizens are calling for, but any initiative for negotiation, for a coalition, remains perceived as a betrayal?

Absolutely! But for all that, I still defend proportional representation. But, yes, we still lack a culture of compromise. What has been happening since the beginning of July but which has existed since 2022, is a minority crystallization, with three powerful blocs, none of which is powerful enough to govern alone. And they refuse to talk to each other.

It's problematic, if no one takes a step towards the others, we remain blocked. So everyone acts as if they had won. I think that we need institutionalized proportional representation, that is to say with a majority bonus for the party that comes out on top, which would have ten, twenty, thirty or fifty more deputies.

Other urgent measures to be taken quickly?

We need to address the symptoms and the causes. Address the symptoms: proportional representation with a majority bonus, recognition of the blank vote, which is a major issue, because abstention is often active abstention. Eliminate the dissolution of the National Assembly, and introduce a mechanism for citizen dissolution of the Assembly. Or have a much more direct mechanism for submitting citizen amendments.

We need to put the citizen back at the heart of the process. Then, the fundamental problem: in France, we forgot to learn democracy. We had the “yellow vests”, the pandemic, violence and riots… But we forgot that democracy was mortal. Democracy is learned from a very young age. It's a measure that costs nothing: I grew up in Prades-le-Lez, I know that it also exists in Montpellier, but I am in favor of generalizing all municipal councils for young people and children in the municipalities.

And we need to deconcentrate and decentralize even more. For people, public action is too far removed from them. And we only consent to what we understand. And the debate on the Sixth Republic is a good debate, not necessarily that of Mélenchon.

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