The Paris Olympics 2024 took place in the French capital from July 24 to August 11. This year, the people of France were supposed to be excited about the Greatest Show on Earth, which only comes around once in four years. However, it did not happen so mainly because of the recently-held French Parliamentary Elections as political uncertainty still looms large on and across the Western European country.

A political storm rocked France after the European Parliament (EP) Elections in June 2024, with Marine Le Pen‘s Far-Right National Rally (RN) Party upsetting Ensemble (or Together), the Liberal Coalition created by President Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron. At that time, everyone realised that the Far-Rights were gaining popularity in France.

After considering the outcome of the EP Elections, President Macron dissolved the National Assembly (the Lower House of the bicameral legislature of the Fifth French Republic) and announced snap Parliamentary Elections ahead of schedule. Many called the decision reckless, stressing that the President was taking a great risk. The electoral success of the RN in the First Round of Parliamentary Polls held on June 30 proved the analysts correct. Ahead of the Second Round of voting on July 7, most of the exit polls predicted that the Far-Rights would come to power in France.

Interestingly, the entire equation changed in the Second Round as the newly formed Leftist coalition, New Popular Front (NFP), won 188 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly, while President Macron’s Ensemble alliance bagged 161 seats and the Far-Rights finished third with 142 seats! With this, the President’s gamble worked in his favour. Although the Centrist alliance of Macron failed to get an absolute majority, the NFP and the Ensemble did not allow the Far-Rights to come to power.

It may be noted that Paris had hosted the Olympics in 1924 (the second time since 1900), a century ago! Since then, much water has flown under the Seine in every sense. Although the structure of the Eiffel Tower remains intact, Notre-Dame Basilica, which was destroyed by fire, is being revived to its former appearance. However, French society and politics have changed significantly in the past 100 years.

Paris has become a symbol of socio-political change in a different context. At the same time, France is experiencing political instability. In fact, the entire Europe is going through a socio-political-economic transformation. Perhaps, such intense socio-political tension shall continue for another century.

One should not forget that a Frenchman was the founder of the modern Olympics! Charles Pierre de Frédy (also known as Baron de Coubertin and Pierre de Coubertin; January 1, 1863 – September 2, 1937) was a French educator and historian who is widely considered as the Father of the Modern Olympic Games. He was the co-founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the second President of this Committee. The Paris Olympics 1924 was the last event under Coubertin. It heralded a number of events, including setting up of Olympic Villages and first radio broadcast of the mega show. The Paris Olympics 1924 also included arts competitions, as medals were awarded in architecture, sculpture, literature, painting and music!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das