The report commissioned by Emmanuel Macron on the Muslim Brotherhood has set the bourgeois political class abuzz.They figure they have a vested interest in fueling a climate of hostility toward Muslims, hoping to ride the wave of grim passions stirred up by the far-right National Rally. Yet they don’t dare go after Salafist currents directly—after all, we wouldn’t want to upset our clients in Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, or jeopardize French arms sales to their regimes. Combating religious fundamentalism takes courage and conviction—qualities Macron’s entourage sorely lacks. Instead, they settle for shadowboxing a fading movement, long past its prime two decades ago, with no declared presence in France today.
What began as a trifling matter descended into farce when the report was conveniently ‘leaked’ to the press—likely at the initiative of Bruno Retailleau, a man not quite sharp enough to win hearts, and thus left with fear as his only political currency.Macron, for his part, is furious—throws a fit. On the surface, it’s a minor incident: a heated meeting, a ministerial dressing-down, a memo demanding ‘appropriate communication.’ And yet it says everything. Power, now in deep crisis, can barely communicate, coordinate, or command. It is splintering, suspicious of its own loyalists, betrayed by its inner circle. Even its intimidation tactics no longer scare anyone. For years now, nothing has gone according to plan.
This report on so-called 'Islamist entryism' was supposed to bolster the government’s security agenda.In another era, the report would’ve been strategically leaked, amplified by 24-hour “experts,” repurposed into freedom-killing amendments and prefectural directives. But today? It’s pure embarrassment. Macron fumes, Retailleau is eyed with suspicion for disloyalty, and Darmanin lobs a half-baked idea for a prison in French Guiana that quickly turns into a farce. The ideological war machine is jammed.
Politics of Fiasco
The report on the Muslim Brotherhood is just the latest episode.For several years now, leaks, blunders, and internal betrayals have become the norm within the corridors of power. Cut off from the popular classes, these circles are both closed off and running unchecked.
There were the full disclosures of the “Macron Leaks” in 2017, exposing the presidential team’s shady deals with financial powers right between the election rounds. During the height of the health crisis, internal reports from the Scientific Council contradicted the government’s public statements on masks, testing, and lockdowns. That’s not to mention the cascade of revelations about financial scandals (McKinsey, Uber Files) or the cozy ties between consulting firms and sitting ministers. Let us also remember the disaster of the pension reform: poorly drafted texts, manipulated figures, rushed votes… The executive was contradicted by its own experts, and the parliamentary majority wobbled to the point of absurdity, even fleeing debates during sessions..
Bayrou stammering before the Bétharram inquiry commission perfectly reflects his administration: clinging to the gilded halls of the Republic like a hard drug, yet utterly unable to take responsibility. The working classes, dismayed, watch this sinking ship in silence.
The worm in the fruit
In this context, it’s every man for himself. Everyone is trying to pull the covers over to their side, jockeying for position in the post-Macron era, testing each other’s loyalty.And this goes far beyond the immediate headlines. Foreign policy is a fiasco (humiliation in the Sahel, diplomatic sidelining), industrial crises multiply (energy, housing, transport), the police repress without managing to maintain order, the state apparatus loses its leadership, parliamentary alliances crumble, and even the bourgeoisie is tearing itself apart over the way forward.
The crisis, deeply rooted, crossed a decisive threshold with the latest legislative elections and the censure of the Barnier government; and even before that, with the pension reform.The executive then decided to impose its policy without a vote in the National Assembly, without the possibility of amendments or negotiations—crucial elements for its social base of notables and opportunists. Meanwhile, popular anger was brewing. The result: a massive strike, unprecedented public distrust, and a lasting parliamentary deadlock. Since then, every minister has been fighting for survival. Darmanin courts the right-wing, Attal tries to woo the youth, Retailleau plays the identity card. Macronism is in shards, and every shard sees itself as the ultimate savior.
At the same time, the ruling classes are searching for new horses to back: Le Pen, Zemmour, Bardella, and perhaps even Hanouna. But here too, contradictions are exploding. Between the neo-liberal factions, supporters of an authoritarian restoration, and Macron-style technocratic managers, nothing is going smoothly. Each side pushes its pieces in a succession battle that further weakens the command center.
Taking on the offensive
History shows that symptoms like these always precede major upheavals.When a ruling class can no longer command obedience, when it fractures, when disorder overwhelms its decisions, it ceases to be a historic leadership force. It rots, it hardens, clinging desperately to the ruins of its hegemony. In Marxist terms: it becomes nothing more than a brake, an obstacle to society’s movement. Its end is near.
It’s time to rethink the question of power—not just by challenging individual policies, but by denouncing the entire institutional and political system through which the bourgeoisie rules.The chaos shaking the ministerial halls is not just a simple communication “blunder.” It’s the death rattle of the ruling class—and at the same time, the opening for a new world. Now it’s up to us to build the alternative! History demands a new power: that of the peoples of the world, of workers, the precarious, and the oppressed.
Illustration image: 'Home Secretary Yvette Cooper meets French Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau in northern France', photograph from February 28, 2025, by Jonathan Chen / Home Office (CC BY 2.0)
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