France, harbinger of the world?s first revolution in 1789 to overthrow monarchy for democracy, is heading for Presidential elections on April 22 with May 6 as the runoff if no party gets 51% majority. In the complex social electioneering drama, two distinct, historical Frenchie factors are popping up for attention: camarade and cheese.

Camarade, translating to comrade in English, is used by all hues of Leftists worldwide, but it originated during the French Revolution. It means hearty friend as confidant. The sudden astonishing comeback of the French Left Front under Jean-Luc Melenchon is making poll statistics bob up and down. An erstwhile Socialist party member and minister 2000-02 in the Socialist Government, his proposition through fiery extempore speeches is to ?Take the power,? create France?s 6th Republic and introduce 100% taxation beyond earnings of 360,000 Euros. Melenchon-mania is sweeping across the youth. In the March 18 rally he called in Bastille, 120,000 people gathered. He exclaimed, ?Thousands of red flags in Bastille. Yes! We?re dangerous.? His red flag has no hammer-&-sickle, just a single star ?To change Europe.? He?s tearing away the protestor crowd who traditionally votes for the Extreme Right FN party of Le Pen. Whose camarade will Melenchon finally become?

And cheese? France cannot exist without cheese, the stronger and smellier the better. I went to France with the taste of Indian jalebi in my mouth. It took me a certain time to get accustomed to the ancient food cheese whose origins predate recorded history, ranging around 8000-3000 BCE when sheep were first domesticated. My work in Europe is highly associated with French culture so I?ve had to dive deep into their gastronomy. I actually learnt from my son, who?s born and brought up in France, how to appreciate cheese. Ever since my tongue has absorbed the taste and logic of French cheese, nothing can now shift that enjoyment and habit. My favourite cheese is one of Emperor Napoleon?s favourites too, Epoisses, made from raw cow?s milk. It definitely stinks. To give you an idea of its repulsive odour, Epoisses is banned from public transportation vehicles all over France. Many a foreign visitor in my home in Paris has asked to ?Open the window, quick! There?s a foul smell?.? when I tried inviting them to taste Epoisses cheese. The way French people obsessively identify withdifferent cheese varieties made Charles de Gaulle, national hero after World War II, once ask in exasperation, “How can you govern a country in which there are 246 kinds of cheese?” The political history of my cheesy-camarade adopted country is spectacular, other societies have picked up its deeper meaning.

It?s incredible that the French demolished monarchy to form the First Republic, then in 1804, voluntarily brought back monarchy by crowning military-man Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor. Undoubtedly Napoleon?s political and administrative prowess makes him France?s favourite emperor. Through Napoleonic Wars he secured a dominant position for France in Europe. Until the British defeated him in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Frenchmen enjoyed peace and order that helped raise comfort standards. Provisions became cheap and abundant unlike earlier frequent bouts of hunger, thirst, and lack of light; trade prospered, wages ran high. Napoleon?s war campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world. The Napoleonic Code has influenced legal systems in several countries including the Indian Penal Code drafted during the British Raj. Among his legacy still practiced in France is the Baccalaureat exam and Legion of Honour awards recognising hardwork and talent. But his unacceptable, abhorrent words were, ?Women should not be regarded as equal to men. They are nothing more than machines for producing children.?

To return to the subject of Communism, France was the first to introduce working-class democracy. French workers went on strike 1934 demanding paid holidays for their 47-hour work-week in factories. This prompted France?s first Socialist Council supported by French Communist Party to introduce in 1936 two-weeks paid vacation each year for the first time in the world, and 40-hour work-week. So French Communism, unlike the Soviets, was liberal enough to practice the working-class ideology they preached. French Socialists put the system upside-down again by adopting 35-hour work-week effective 2000, although I?m not sure this is the right direction.

The French Muslim terrorist who recently killed three Jewish children, a Rabbi and three French armymen may have played a role in fluctuating polls. But Camarade Melenchon?s impact after rounding up support of protesters, has been more significant. In fact protester votes made the Extreme Right become, for the first time, the second party against Jacques Chriac in France?s 2002 election. This Extreme Right score scandalised both France and the world. But Chirac?s run-off victory by 80% confirmed that France had 20% protesters. CSA polls predicting the 6 May 2012 run-off shows Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande win 54% and reigning President Nicholas Sarkozy of Rightist UMP party lose with 46% votes. Tracking details, CSA 2012 polls of February 6 and April 2 show Marine Le Pen fall from 17.5 to 13% while Melenchon rose dramatically from 8 to 15%. This heralds the imminent return of the Communist Party that peaked 21.27% votes in 1969, dropped to 8.66% in 1995 at the end of Socialist President Francois Mitterand?s second term, and plummeted to 1.93% in 2007 election.

Hollande best personifies French liberty. He perforce reduced 10 kg for the aesthetics appreciating French electorate. He won the Socialist party primary candidature fighting his former domestic partner, the mother of their four children, Segolene Royal who lost the 2007 Presidential race to Sarkozy. Just imagine, an unmarried couple, both Enarques who graduated from France?s prestigious Ecole National d?Administration, and both from the same party. But on April 4, 2012, Segolene reversed this image, she appeared publicly with Hollande. Traditionally the Left eats cheese with Socialists, considering them as camarades. With Segolene and Melenchon beside him, will Hollande clinch victory? Touche!

Shombit Sengupta is an international Creative Business Strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com