Facing the prospect of becoming a lame duck president with three years left in his term and the French establishment turning against him, Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he would continue to “act” until 2027 while making a vague vow of “change”.
In an attempt to regain legitimacy following his drubbing in the European Parliament elections to Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally earlier this month, President Macron made a madcap gambit of calling for snap legislative elections, which will be conducted in two rounds, starting on June 30th and concluding on July 7th.
Macron appeared to be banking on divisions on the left and fear of the so-called “far-right” to convince the French public to once again coalesce around his centrist neo-liberal government.
However, with just a little over a week left before the French people head back to the polls, it seems his gamble will not pay off, with his Renaissance party continuing to languish in a distant third place behind the National Rally and the hastily cobbled together New Popular Front led by far-left socialist Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Making a last-ditch attempt at reclaiming the narrative, in an open letter published in regional newspapers across the country, Macron wrote on Sunday that he recognised that his decision to call for a snap election has resulted in “anger that has turned against me,” Le Monde reports.
“The goal cannot be to just continue as things were. I have heard that you want change,” he said. “Yes, the way we govern must change profoundly… The government to come, which will necessarily reflect your vote, will, I hope, bring together republicans of different persuasions who have shown courage in opposing the extremes.”
Mr Macron has faced calls from opposition leader Marine Le Pen to resign if he were to lose control of the National Assembly following the elections, but Macron shot down on Sunday any possibility of relinquishing power before the end of his second — and final — term in office.
“You can trust me to act until May 2027 as your president, protector at every moment of our republic, our values, respectful of pluralism and your choices, at your service and that of the nation,” Macron said, while dismissing the idea that the elections represented a referendum on whether he should stay in office, but rather just on “who should govern France”.
According to two polls published over the weekend by Elabe and Ipsos, the populist National Rally of Marine Le Pen maintains a commanding lead in first-round voting preference, 35.5 to 36 per cent, respectively, while the leftist New Popular Front is polling between 27 to 29.5 per cent, Sud Radio reports.
Meanwhile, Macron’s Renaissance party (formerly La République En Marche!) continues to languish in third place between 19.5 to 20 per cent.
Should the National Rally win the elections, Mr Macron could be forced into a “cohabitation” government in which he is forced to appoint RN leader Jordan Bardella as his prime minister, thereby relinquishing control of domestic politics to the populist party for the remainder of his term.
Despite his attempts to rally centrist voters once again, Macron has been facing heavy criticism from establishment figures in France, including former presidential candidate and ex-European Union Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
In an interview with London’s Daily Telegraph over the weekend, the Les Républicains politician said that the president’s failures in addressing the issues of working-class people, particularly on immigration, has led to the rise of populist sentiment in France similar to before the Brexit movement in Britain.
“It is my conviction that we have to pay huge attention and great respect to what people on the ground think in some very poor regions. That was the case in the UK explaining a large part of the Brexit vote, and I think it could be the same in France,” the former Brexit negotiator said.
Macron has also faced criticism from within his own party, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire reportedly lamenting that the president’s agenda and decision to call for a snap election has resulted in “the country going to the dogs.”
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