The Economist USA - 21.03.2020

41 Europe

~ ered in parks or shopping in crowded street

markets, ignoring advice to stay in. Tbe

next day, Mr Macron addressed the nation

again, deploring the fact that people were

behaving "as if, basically, life had not

changed•. He suspended the second-round

vote, due on March 22nd, shut France

down, and declared, 'Wea.reatwar.·

Why did Mr Macron not delay the elec·

tions earllet? His former health minister

now says she knew it was a ·masquerade·

to go ahead. It tums out that postponement

was still on the table as late as March uth.

Delaying a democratic vote, however, was a

decision that required cross-party consen-

sw;, at least politically. There was already a

climate of suspicion at the government's

recent use of a decree to pass its pension re-

form. Gemrd Larcher, president of the sen-

ate, opposed a postponement. Christian Ja-

cob, the Republican leader (who has since

conttacted oovid-19), had said publicly that

a delay would constitute a coup d'~tat.

Moreover, the scientific council advising

the president suggested that voting would

not pose a health ha7.ard if sanitary rules

were followed.

As France deals with an acceleration of

cases, such questions will become second-

order. A military hospital is being mobil-

ised in Alsace, one of the worst-affected re-

gions. Fully 66% of the French told a poll

that they found Mr Macron's first address,

which mixed solemnity and science with

much-needed warmth, convincing. An as-

tonishing 35m people, more than half the

entire population, watched his second.

And, despite disapproving of the decision

to hold a first-round vote, 57'6 of the

French think he and his government are

managing the crisis well-his highest ap-

proval rating for a very long time. •

Deplinthing Alexander

SKOPJE

The polltlc1 of tearing down statues of a man who conquenKI the ancient world

A

LEXANDER THE GREAT is off to the

dump. If the authorities in Skopje,

the capital of North Macedonia, have

theirway, statues and monuments glori-

fying him, his father Philip II and other

ancient, mythical and more modem

Macedonians around the city will soon

be yanked off their pedestals and di•

patched to a distant park on a reclaimed

rubbish tip.

Skopje was refurbished by the previ-

ous city authorities, who lost power in

2017. Oneaimoftheir€685m ($765m)
      renovation project was to instil pride in
      an antique Macedonian past centring on
      Alexander, the general wbo created an
      empire stretching as far east as Pakistan
      by the age of 30. But Greeks regard Alex-
      ander as wholly theirs, and reckon that
      Skopje's claim to him is absurd. lhe
      territozynowoccupied byNorthMac-
      edonia was not, they argue, even part of
      the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (the
      Romans added itto their province of that
      name later on.) By claiming him, North
      Macedonia poisoned relations with
      Greece, the regional economic hegemon.
      Anewcoalitiongovemmentfinally
      managed to end the 27-year-old conflict
      with Greece in 20l8 by agreeing to change
      the country's name from Macedonia
      (which is the name of a Greek region) to
      North Macedonia.
      Tbesocial Democrats who now run
      Skopje have talked of removing a giant
      Alexander statue, and others of him and
      other heroes, though done little. Cost is
      one reason, says NikolaNaumoski, the

mayor's chief of staff, but politics is a

bigger one. BveIY statue is •nte a land-

mine", he says. If they are removed,

protests will erupt. For that reason, the

goverrunent pressed the city authorities

to bold off on purging the plinths.

However, inoctoberFrancevetoed

the opening of EU accession talks with

North Macedonia., infuriating its govern-

ment. An election was called shortly

aftetwards, butisnowupin the air,

thanks to the coronavirus. If the nation-

alists retum to power, they will stop the

statues from being removed. But if the

incumbent Social Democrats win, says

MrNaumoski, Alexanderwill betaking a

long walk in the park.

A junkyard-bound general?

The Economist March 21st 2020

Russia

The new Soviet

Union

A backlash to Vladimir Putin's

power-ggb begins

T

HI! WORLD might be heading into its

biggest crisis since the second world

war, llWisians maybe sweeping the shelves

of supennarkets clean, but Vladimir Putin

knows his priorities. on Marcil t7th he de-

creed that his country must hold an "all-

peoplevote9 ona constitutional change de-

signed to keep himself Jn power indefinite-

ly. "Against the background of the

pandemic, Putin's decision seems crimi-

nal," tweeted Alexei Navalny, Russia's most

prominent opposition figure.

Mr Putin later said the vote could be

postponed if need be, but for now it is to be

held on Aprll .und-the birthday of Vladi-

mir Lenin. It is as meaningless as were

elections in the soviet Union The amend-

ments that give the president vast powers

and reset the clock on his tenn limits have

already been signed into law by Mr Putin

and approved by a pliant Constitutional

Court. Ekaterina Schulmann, a political

scientist, said on Facebook about the court

that Mrarely has the spirit of slavery and in-

tellectual cowardice revealed itself so fully

in a written text.•

'Ihe spectacle of a "people's approvalu is

likely to stretch over several days, requires

no minimum turnout or independent ver-

ification and will include home and elec-

tronicvoting. "Putin was too scared to hold

a proper referendum so be came up with

this fake procedure," says Mr Navalny. "The

ICremlin is desperate to draw us into it,

count us up and then declare victory,· be

adds. He has refused to participate in it. On

Marcil 15th a group of 350 lawyers, intellec-

tuals and journalists signed an open letter

warning of a constitutional coup that

threatens to phmge the country into a na-

tional conflict. Three days later the number

of signatures bad swelled to 30,000.

Even Mr Putin's loyalists feel deceived.

•Lying to foreigners is one thing. Lying to

his own people is quite another,u one for-

mer military officer says. The growing fear

of a covid-19 outbreak in Russia. where the

numberofcaseshasbeensuspidouslylow,

and Mr Putin's insistence on sticking with

the vote, despite bis govemmenfs decision

to close borders and schools, could eucer-

ba.tethatanger. Many people remember the

ICremlin lying about the scale of the Cher-

nobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Mr Putin's

amended constitution proclaims today's

Russia to be the heir to the Soviet Union,

whose falsehood-filled propaganda rag

was called, simply: "Tnlth". •