Macron is "isolated" as extremist parties wait for the right moment

French Prime Minister Leclerc, who resigned less than a month after taking office, is currently carrying out the last mission entrusted to him by President Macron, aiming to form an "action plan for a stable France" through negotiations with various parties within 48 hours. Half of the 48 hours have passed, and the negotiations are proceeding intensively. If the negotiations succeed, a new government will be formed; if they fail, Macron has promised to "take on the responsibility," which means he will either appoint a new prime minister, dissolve Parliament, or resign, but it remains unknown.

Over the past 24 hours, the former prime minister has invited leaders of all parties to discuss at the prime minister's residence, hoping for the dissolution of Parliament. The far-right National Rally and the far-left France Insoumise have clearly refused to attend, obviously expecting the crisis to worsen in order to force Macron to dissolve Parliament and take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen their party's influence.

The remaining work actually falls to only two parties: the left-wing Socialist Party and the right-wing Republican Party. The leaders of the Socialist Party and the Green Party have already agreed to participate in the negotiations on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Leclerc first negotiated with the Republican Party, whose chairman defected at a critical moment, leading to the government's collapse. During his meeting with the Republican Party parliamentary group chairman Vauquelin, Leclerc clearly told him that if the Republican Party did not join the government, President Macron would have only two choices: either appoint a leftist as prime minister or dissolve Parliament.

In addition to the opposition parties, the head of state Macron is now also facing a situation of isolation within his own camp. Philippe, who served as his prime minister from 2017 to 2020, urged Macron to resign before the end of his term, calling for an early presidential election. His reason was that the country could not afford to delay for another 18 months, dragging on until the 2027 presidential election. On Monday evening, another former prime minister, Atta, who served for nine months in 2024 and had been promoted by Macron and was seen as his confidant, criticized many of the president's decisions as incomprehensible. However, the next day, he opposed holding an early presidential election, arguing that this would "shake our fragile democratic foundations." The criticism from the two former prime ministers has also caused controversy, with many accusing them of betrayal at the most critical time for the president, losing their qualifications to be "national leaders."

Aurore Bergé, the spokesperson for the resigned government, took a different approach, stating on television that as president, Macron would "fulfill the duties assigned by the constitution until the last moment of his five-year term," and she added that according to the Fifth Republic Constitution, "there is no question of the president resigning."

The president's camp is in disarray, while the opposition camp is rushing to expose the unprecedented political crisis that emerged after the short-lived government collapsed. The "last negotiations" by the resigned prime minister are full of uncertainty. The interior minister, who directly led to the government's collapse due to dissatisfaction with the appointment of the former finance minister Le Maire back into the government, and the chairman of the Republican Party, Letaillieu, has softened his stance. On Tuesday, he proposed that his party participate in a "co-governance government," meaning that the Republican Party would "share power equally" with the president's camp, or even hold more actual power. However, there are already different voices within the Republican Party, considering it naive for a party with only 50 members to "co-govern" with Macron.

Although Letaillieu has softened his position, he did not attend the joint meeting held on Tuesday morning with Macron's core supporters. Since the Republican Party dissolved Parliament in 2024, it has established a fragile alliance with Macron's centrist faction. The centrist faction needs the participation of the Republican Party to form a government, while the Republican Party, once the largest party, has now become a small party with only 50 members, and faces the danger of being absorbed by the far-right. Therefore, forming an alliance with the center-left Renaissance Party has become a temporary solution. However, such an alliance is unlikely to go very far. If the Republican Party refuses to join the government, the possibility of Macron dissolving Parliament increases significantly.

Another important factor in whether the resigned prime minister Leclerc can complete his mission by Wednesday evening is whether he can persuade the left-wing Socialist Party. The left wing has always opposed the retirement law passed by Macron's government, which raises the retirement age to 64. If this law is suspended, it may be possible to convince the Socialists to abandon the no-confidence motion. On Tuesday evening, the former prime minister and education minister of the resigned government, Borne, stated that suspending the implementation of the retirement law until 2027, when it would be debated nationwide, is feasible. Although this approach of pushing the problem to the future is a temporary solution, it might temporarily alleviate the crisis given the severity of the political crisis in France.

As for the left-wing Green Party and the far-left France Insoumise, they believe that early legislative elections are inevitable, urging all left-wing parties to unite and present a campaign platform that "breaks with the current government." However, the Socialist Party has refused to join. The leader of the Socialist Party, Valls, has called for a "co-governance" with the president, demanding that Macron appoint a left-wing government. Mélenchon's France Insoumise continues to demand the president's resignation and has proposed a motion to remove the president, but legal experts consider the likelihood of this motion succeeding to be extremely low.

As for the far-right National Rally, they believe there are only two options: either dissolve Parliament or Macron resigns.

Source: rfi

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845411775496202/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.