.png)
Despite minor hiccups that arose during the 2024 Olympics, the world saw Paris put on a sporting spectacle of triumph and harmony. However, now that the distraction of the 33rd Olympiad has passed, Macron comes out of the Olympic daze and faces an enormous political crisis. France’s political landscape has been littered with scandals and constitutional crises, so what has gone wrong, and how does Macron rebuild French politics after the Olympic euphoria?
Since the German occupation of World War Two, France has faced a battle to regain the trust of its people and create a fully functioning constitution. In the last 10 years, the image of France has been one of protests, strikes, scandals, and chaos. The Gilets Jaunes’ (Yellow Vests) movement that sparked in 2018 was a prime example of the anger of the French. In 2017, ‘Penelopegate’ unravelled, a political scandal where former president Francois Fillon gave family members paid roles despite them doing very little work, if any. Such crises are unbecoming of the seventh-largest economy in the world and highlights the gargantuan task the government faces to restore trust in France’s political system.
This lack of trust was emphatically underlined by the recent legislative elections, which was unprecedented in recent French political history. Macron’s rapid climb to the political summit has been fuelled by his risk-taking mindset, hence prompting him to call an unexpected election that shocked politicians and voters alike. The rationale behind this knee-jerk political gamble was to halt the electoral momentum gathering behind the far-right.
Macron announced the election just hours after the European election results were announced – a heavy defeat for his alliance ‘Ensemble’. They won only half of the votes of the far-right ‘Rassemblement National’ (RN) headed by political heavyweight Marine Le Pen, who achieved a ground-breaking 31% of the vote, an embarrassing result for Macron’s governing ensemble.
Macron had no choice but to bring a “moment of clarification” through a legislative election, which allowed his party to propose populist policies that matched the consensus of the nation on topics such as immigration, workers’ rights, and taxes. This being a blatant attempt at clawing back the voters that had been magnetised to the far right.
In the first round of voting, RN made ground-breaking gains, winning 33% of the popular vote compared to 'Ensemble’s' humiliating 21%. Chaos once again broke out, with anti-far-right protests occurring in every major French city. Between 350,000 and 640,000 protestors were mobilised in around 150 marches during this tumultuous week of French politics, a scene that would not look out of place during the Revolution of the late 1700s. French unions said that “our republic and our democracy are in danger” after the far-right triumphs.
Check out a breakdown on the 2024 French Election result which has exacerbated Macron's dilemma.
This display of destruction and anarchy in French streets was put to rest after the second round of voting, where parties rallied against the RN to ensure that its President Jordan Bardella was not handed control of the Assemblée Nationale. The left-wing alliance National Popular Front (NPF), a bizarre melange of the Communists, the Greens, and far-leftists, won 182 seats compared to the Macronist bloc gaining 163 seats and the RN only receiving 143. Despite the rejoicing of protestors, Macron has been left with a gridlocked parliament, with no party close to gaining a majority of 289. He now has no choice but to face this high-tempered political conundrum in order to save French democracy.
As the group with the largest number of seats, many would expect the prime ministerial candidate of the NPF to be selected with the alliance stating its preference for Lucie Castets to be their candidate. However, this proposal has been dismissed by Macron, who wants to "build the broadest and most stable majority possible to serve the country". As talks are ongoing between the major parties, the deadline to choose a new prime minister by mid-August is rapidly approaching. Le Monde has reported that Macron is looking for a candidate who can unite the left and right, evoking the impression that France is headed towards a period of ‘cohabitation’, where the president and prime minister are from differing parties.
Calling cohabitation a success could not be further from the truth. Over France’s north-eastern border, Germany has been facing a three-way coalition since 2021. This required 73 days of negotiation and a 166-page document whilst being beset by regular infighting. In a time of global conflict and a fathomable threat of escalation, Macron does not have the liberty to spend months arranging his ideal Government. He must also contend with the fact that his party is facing likely defeat by Le Pen in the presidential election in three years' time.
Furthermore, next year’s budget is a looming issue for the incumbent government and prime minister as France faces pressure to reduce its deficit. Macron must find a solution that can both achieve political harmony and respect the opinions of the French electorate.
The athlete Léon Marchand united France thanks to his outstanding performance at the Olympics. Macron must replicate such unity in such a divided nation and fractious political period. Like the Olympic motto, Macron must act ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together’.
Comments