Editorial 1 : Far right moves in
Introduction: The centre-right, social democrats and liberals together have more than 400 seats in the European Parliament (EP) which will be inaugurated on July 18. That might put them in a comfortable position vis-a-vis the far right in the 720-member House. But these mainstream parties cannot ignore the rise of far-right parties in European Parliament.
What are the concerns from far-right parties?
- Europe’s mainstream parties will be erring in ignoring the fault lines and points of dissonance that are behind extreme nationalists and anti-immigration parties getting more than 130 seats — about 20 per cent of the votes — in the EP elections.
- The House will also have 34 additional hard right members drawn from Poland, Bulgaria, Germany’s AfD and Viktor Orbán’s Hungarian Fidesz party.
- The numbers suggest that the far and hard right could be the second-largest group in the EP behind the traditional conservatives, the European People’s Party.
- Europe’s extreme right is not a cohesive force, yet the group’s sheer size would mean significant rightward pressure on EU policies.
The rise of far-right populist parties in Europe
- Since the last EU election in 2019, populist parties now lead governments in three EU nations — Hungary, Slovakia and Italy — and are part of ruling coalitions in Sweden, Finland and now the Netherlands.
- The latest results consolidate the transformation of the far right, once described as the fringe, into a political force that connects with voters on a diverse set of issues, including immigration, the Ukraine war, agriculture, and climate change.
The France’s far-right shift
- The loudest rumbles have been felt in France, where Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (NR) triumphed with more than 30 per cent of the votes — more than double that of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance Party.
- The setback has pushed Macron into announcing a snap poll — a move seen by several analysts as a gamble.
- His success in the elections, scheduled for June 30 and July 7, will depend on the Rennaisance Party’s ability to mobilise voters with arguments about “the nationalist threat and the survival of Europe”.
- But Macron himself has not been averse to doing the far-right’s bidding through moves such as tightening the country’s immigration laws and imposing sanctions against companies employing “undocumented workers” — decisions, heralded by Le Pen as an ideological victory for NR.
The greens are not finding resonance in Europe
- After the liberals, the greens are the second biggest losers.
- In Germany, a core green stronghold, the group’s vote share has nearly halved since the last EP election.
- Surveys across Europe show that ecological issues do strike a chord with the people.
- However, anxieties such as those that have surfaced during the ongoing farmers’ protests about who pays for decarbonisation remain unaddressed by the continent’s parties.
Conclusion: In Europe, the far-right fringe parties have become the second largest group. They won’t be the deciding factors, but going forward European Parliament has to be considerate on policies regarding migration, climate change, that all concerns to India.
Editorial 2 : Remember Manipur
Introduction: In his first interview after the Lok Sabha elections to Indian Express Newspaper, the Chief Minister N Biren Singh admitted his government’s failure to contain the unrest comes as a welcome, though belated, acknowledgement of responsibility.
Why the acceptance is a significant step forward?
- In the year since ethnic violence ruptured Manipur, killing over 200 people and displacing over 60,000, both the Centre and the state administrations have repeatedly laid the blame on outsiders — “illegal” migrants from Myanmar, with whom the Kuki-Zos in the state’s hilly region share a common ethnicity — holding them responsible for the disruption as well as the state’s illicit drug trade.
- With fresh violence in Jiribam and an attack on Singh’s advance convoy to the district, it is imperative that the government begins at the earliest the long overdue work of healing.
The complex problem of Manipur goes beyond the ethnic conflicts
- The recurring pattern of violence is symptomatic of the state’s complex history in which identity is only one part of the story.
- With its mixed population of Meiteis, Kuki-Zos, Bengalis, Muslims and Nagas, Jiribam, to the west of Manipur and bordering Assam’s Cachar district, for instance, was one of the few places to have been insulated from the unrest in the state.
- That changed last week following a murder.
- The conflagration may also reflect other insecurities.
- Manipur has the third lowest per capita income in the country, down from the highest among northeastern states in the 1990s.
- The state ranks low on most indices, from education and employment opportunities to infrastructure building and healthcare facilities.
- The resultant anxieties exacerbate ethnic tensions and accusations of partisanship in resource allocation and administration.
The Loss of Lok Sabha seats in Manipur by incumbent shows erosion of confidence
- In the interview, Singh owned up to the erosion of confidence that led to his party, the BJP, losing both the Lok Sabha seats in the state.
- BJP’s vote share in the state dropped from 34 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2024.
The solution proposed by CM Singh
- A solution to Manipur’s violence, would require the intervention of the Centre to help “… convince the original tribal people that the (state) government is not against them, but is targeting outsiders who came after 1961”.
What can be done moving forward?
- The formation of a multi-ethnic peace committee in June 2023 has not resulted into anything concrete.
- PM Modi has not visited Manipur, despite his government’s renewed emphasis on North East.
- It also cannot be overstated — as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat noted at an event in Nagpur on Monday — that the work of restoring peace should have been a priority much earlier.
- While narcoterrorism, poppy cultivation and illegal migration are all parts of the problem, it is essential that the CM, a Meitei, moves beyond the insider-outsider rhetoric.
Conclusion: CM Biren Singh's acknowledgement of responsibility for the state's continuing crisis is belated but welcome. He must act on it. Manipur’s road to rehabilitation lies not in myopic lip service, or a narrow law-and-order approach, but in a genuine willingness to substitute identity politics for equitable and inclusive governance.