Foxes among the geese

As recent events have shown, for more than 30 years the Socialist Party (but also certain right-wing parties), the media, large industrial groups and since 1981, government structures and public administration have been infiltrated by what are commonly referred to as “the trotskyist networks”. In short, in the years that followed the 1968 student revolution in France, extreme left-wing networks were set up with the aim of infiltrating the political structure of the country in order to influence its decisions and orient its politics to serve their own purposes. These networks were well organized in closed units; their members were ideologically motivated or sometimes slightly fanatical; and they were well trained to carry out a long-term secret action.

As one of the most publicized examples, certain rumours have persisted for several years within the SP (Socialist Party) that Lionel Jospin himself, the current Prime Minister, was a member of these networks (and in particular of the OCI) in the seventies. When these rumours were made public, Lionel Jospin’s reaction was really surprising – he strongly claimed that it was a mistake and that the rumours were about his brother. Fine, but the press investigations and revelations by former chiefs of these networks confirmed that it was in fact himself. Finally, he confessed to having been a member of these organizations, during a speech to the National Assembly, not without forgetting to insinuate a threat as regards certain politico-legal affairs which were ravaging the right at the time, and in particular the current president, Jacques Chirac. But, to keep things simple, the fact is that his admission was when he had no other choice and thus revealed that he had simply lied in his former denials.

What is remarkable is that, to a greater or lesser extent, all students or teachers at the end of the sixties were more or less in contact with, or temporarily members of extreme left-wing organizations. It would have been easy for him to declare that it was youthful folly – it’s true that other leaders of the opposition had themselves been members of extreme left-wing organizations during those years. However, he chose to lie, which is always a considerable risk for any politician in his position. In fact, it’s easier to understand why when one realizes that the investigation revealed some time later that he took part in a secret operation led by one of the secret units of these networks trying to influence, in the long term, the main left-wing party in France.