Ali Mustafa is a freelance journalist, writer, and media activist. He is also an editor of the New Socialist webzine. He resides in Toronto. His writing can be found at: http://frombeyondthemargins.blogspot.com/
The first round of the local elections took place against a backdrop of widespread creeping fascism in France and comes after a brutal offensive by the far right, during which the traditional ‘Republican’ right has decisively broken from much of its historical framework and values.