When the 81-year-old Biden and the 78-year-old Trump are competing for the presidency of the United States, the French political scene tends to be younger, the current President Macron is only 46 years old, and Prime Minister Attar is only 35 years old, and now there may be a "post-95" prime minister: Jordan Bardeira, a 28-year-old millionaire with millions of followers and chairman of the French far-right National Alliance party.
On June 30, the first round of voting in the French National Assembly election ended, and Macron's political gamble was defeated. The second round of voting will be held on July 7, and if the far-right National Alliance wins a majority of seats in the parliamentary elections, it is expected to elect its 28-year-old party president, Bardeira, as prime minister and even have the potential to become president in the future.
Macron's political gamble failed miserably
France may usher in a "post-95" prime minister
At 20 o'clock local time on June 30, the first round of voting in the French National Assembly election ended. In the first round of voting, the far-right National Alliance led with 33% of the vote; The Left Alliance "New Popular Front" came in second with 28.5% of the votes; The ruling Ba'ath Party and the centrist coalition "together" came in third with 22 percent of the vote.
French National Assembly elections are held every five years, and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly on June 9 due to the crushing defeat of the French ruling Ba'ath Party in the previous European Parliament elections, and the new National Assembly elections were held ahead of schedule, a move that was regarded by the outside world as Macron's "political gamble".
The results of the first round of voting showed that Macron's political gamble had failed miserably. However, his presidency remains unaffected, and he has previously said that no matter which party wins, he will serve a second term until 2027.
The second round of voting will be held on July 7, and if the National Alliance and its allies can obtain an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the far-right will be in power in France in a historic way, and the 28-year-old president of the National Alliance, Bardeira, will become the next French prime minister, once again breaking the history of the youngest prime minister in France.
If the president and the prime minister "rule together", it will bring the future governance of France to an impasse. The French prime minister will have a strong say in France's domestic livelihood and economic policies, while Macron, as president, will continue to be responsible for foreign policy and defense.
According to the report, after the results of the first round of voting came out, Macron has now launched actions, hoping to unite the left and the traditional right to prevent the far right from gaining a majority. In fact, Macron had been prepared for the rise of Bardeira, but he did not prevent it.
In January this year, Macron appointed 34-year-old Education Minister Atal as the new prime minister, Atal became the youngest prime minister in French history, and was called "Little Macron" by French public opinion. According to the analysis, the reason why Macron appointed the young and handsome Atal as prime minister is to deal with Bardeira, the successor of far-right leader Le Pen. The 28-year-old Bardeira is young, relatable, and increasingly popular among young voters.
Likes to emphasize "poor origins"
didn't mention that his father bought him a house and a car
Born in September 1995 to a family of Italian immigrants on the northern outskirts of Paris, Bardeira grew up in a slum. It was a working-class ghetto around Paris and was inhabited by many French citizens of African descent. For many French people, this region is synonymous with poverty, high crime rates and a lack of public housing.
Bardeira was the only child in his family, his parents divorced when he was a child, and he was raised by his mother alone. His father was of Italian and Algerian descent and ran a small company that rented out coffee and vending machines. According to Bardeira, his mother, of Italian descent, was a kindergarten teacher who barely earned enough to make ends meet, and starved at the end of each month.
In a country where most politicians come from the elite, the story of Bardeira, brought up by a single mother in the crime-ridden northern suburbs of Paris, resonated with many voters.
Bardeira often emphasizes in public that he comes from a slum and is never shy about talking about his humble origins in order to gain empathy from voters – especially young poor voters who oppose immigration and complain about the rising cost of living and economic inequality. In interviews, he always mentions how hard his mother raised him, but rarely mentions his father.
Later, some French media broke out that his father was actually a successful businessman who lived in a wealthy area, and he had been taking care of his son's life and giving him living expenses after the divorce. Bardeira attended a private school from an early age, and the tuition was covered by his father. As a teenager, his father sent him on a trip to the United States. After he got his driver's license, his father gave him a Mercedes Benz. On his 20th birthday, his father also bought him an apartment for him.
He only has high Chinese
A popular influencer with millions of followers
In 2012, at the age of 16, Bardeira began his political career by joining the National Front, the predecessor of the National Alliance. Later, he graduated from high school with honors and was admitted to the geography department of the prestigious Sorbonne, but dropped out to focus on his political career. Therefore, he only had a high degree of Chinese but decided to enter politics, and at the age of 17 he set a life goal of becoming prime minister and president.
Bardeira's handsome young appearance, his acting talents, and his ability to run social platforms such as TikTok are popular among young people by uploading witty clips and selfies of him with his political opponents. As a result, he became the most popular "influencer" in French politics, with 1.7 million TikTok followers and more than 450,000 followers on X. Just a simple video of canvassing for votes in front of the camera can get hundreds of thousands of likes.
Bardeira is young, handsome, urbane, and humble to the electorate, especially popular with young French people, and he is often seen surrounded by young fans. His popularity among young voters, especially female voters, has even spawned a phenomenon known as "Bardeira fanaticism." Hundreds of young women will rush to the campaign to catch a glimpse of the young politician on stage.
The face is easy to control
Become a protégé of "Europe's Most Dangerous Woman".
Bardeira's political career can be described as a smooth rise, and his rapid rise in French politics broke with the convention that French politicians came from elite families and schools. In 2017, the 21-year-old Bardeira began working as a spokesperson for the National Front; In 2019, he became vice president of the National Alliance, and in 2022, he became the president of the National Alliance, becoming the first person outside the Le Pen family to serve as the chairman of the party.
In the process of Baldeira's rise in the political arena, he has to mention a woman, Le Pen, who is known as "the most dangerous woman in Europe".
She is the daughter of Le Pen Sr., the former chairman of the French far-right party National Front, and took over her father's class at the age of 18. In 2011, Le Pen took over the National Front, which was later renamed the National Alliance, and turned against her father.
Le Pen has run for president three times. In 2012, she ran for president for the first time and received 17.9 percent support, second only to Hollande and former President Nicolas Sarkozy. In 2017, she ran for president again, losing to Macron. In 2022, she ran in the presidential election for the third time, and although she lost to Macron again, she received a record 41.5% support.
In 2022, Le Pen stepped back into the background, and the 26-year-old Bardeira was elected president of the National League. He is a protégé of Le Pen, and Le Pen regards him as an "adopted son". Bardeira even once called Le Pen "second mom" at a rally.
According to the analysis, Le Pen chose Bardeira to succeed him because he strictly followed the party line but had no personal ideas, had a very flattering face and was easy to control. However, Le Pen still holds de facto power in the party, and by stepping down as party leader, she will focus more on leading the party in parliament in the future, and will run for the French presidency for the fourth time in 2027.
Known as the "perfect son-in-law"
Falling in love with Le Pen's niece attracts her attention
Bardeira has no government work experience and has never done any work outside of the National League, except for a summer when he worked for his father's company for a month.
On November 5, 2022, Bardeira was elected president of the new French far-right party National Alliance. For the first time since its creation in 1972, Le Pen has not been named after the president of the National Alliance. Why did Le Pen choose Bardeira, who only has a high Chinese background, as her successor?
According to the report, in France, the young and handsome Bardeira can be described as both talented and beautiful, he always keeps tidy, fluent in conversation, and dignified, and is known as the "perfect son-in-law". However, he has long been famous, she is the fiancé of Norvin Olivier, the daughter of Le Pen's sister, and he has to call Le Pen "aunt" according to his "seniority". In this way, the National League is still a "family business".
In 2020, Bardeira began to fall in love with Olivier, thus attracting the attention of Le Pen, who trained him to become his "protégé". However, this has also led to accusations of nepotism in Bardeira within the National League.
Still, Bardeira, who grew up in a single-parent family, has the communication skills of politicians much older than him. Under his leadership, the party received twice as many votes in the European Parliament elections as Macron's centrist coalition, prompting Macron to announce the dissolution of parliament on television and hold early elections on June 30.
The most popular politician in France
Le Pen calls him her "lion cub"
The latest polls at the end of June showed that Bardeira was named the most popular political figure in France. His arguments are calm and clear, and they can easily attract the attention of the public. With his amiable image, he was surrounded by people everywhere he went, and many young people even took "selfies with him" as their goal.
According to Humo, a media trainer who has worked with Bardeira for four years, Ms. Le Pen immediately took a fancy to the young man, calling him her "lion cub" because of his perfect story of a difficult experience in the suburbs, his popularity on social media, and his youth, handsomeness, and partisan service. "Le Pen has packaged him as an idol for young people, but he's just an empty shell with little substance," he said. He didn't read much, he didn't have any curiosity, he just learned the oratorical skills that Le Pen taught him. ”
French biographer Ford has argued that there is little substance behind Bardeira's gracious image: "The French have a peculiar feeling that the man they see is like a beautifully wrapped package, but the contents are a mystery." He is a chameleon who adapts perfectly to his surroundings. He can sense the direction of the wind and act early. ”
On July 7, Bardeira will have to wait for the results of the second round of elections to become the prime minister of France. Previously, in order to call on voters to vote for the National Alliance, Bardeira had stressed to the media that he would only accept the prime minister if the National Alliance won an absolute majority of votes in this election.
Huashang Daily Gale News reporter Guo Ji edited by Dong Lin