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Where Have All The Reds Gone?
A poll for French Communist newspaper l'Humanité dimanche suggests that 59 percent of French citizens would like another referendum on the revised European Constitution (or "Lisbon Treaty").
Only 33 percent would prefer the treaty to be ratified by parliament, the government's preferred means of pushing it into law.
So where is the debate on this important constitutional issue? Britain's debate has been curtailed by Gordon Brown, and the British have been denied a vote on the treaty as promised.
The only party publicly opposing the Constitution and demanding a second referendum is the French Communist Party - a marginal force at best. Communist activists lurk at the exits of Paris Metro stations, handing out leaflets opposing the Lisbon Treaty. Are they nostalgic for the 2005 rejection of the previous Constitution? Communists, along side various Trotskyite groups, the far right, sovereigntists and large numbers of disillusioned centrists voted against the Constitution back then - it was probably the Commie's finest hour since the 1980s, as they rallied the opposition. Last year saw disaster for the sect when the left in all its shades could not prevent the election of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Another referendum campaign might give the Party a final chance to prove its relevance.
So where are the party spokesmen on the telly? Time was, you couldn't switch on le box without seeing a Communist sounding off about Sarkozy, new employment contracts, strikes and so on. Since the signing of the treaty, Commies have been strangely absent from news discussion.
When Communists speak for vested interests against the majority, television news is only to happy to give them airtime. However, when they are the only people standing up for the majority's wishes, they're brushed under the carpet. Interesting.
