- Macron’s camp is missing an absolute majority in Parliament
- Will now seek alliances with other parties
- Risk of political paralysis if no deals are struck
PARIS, June 20 (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron on Monday faced calls for his prime minister to resign and doubts about his ability to rule decisively after his camp lost its parliamentary majority.
Macron’s centrist group is under pressure to secure the support of rivals in a bid to salvage Macron’s reform agenda after weekend elections resulted in a hanging parliament. If it fails, France could face a long period of political paralysis.
Macron will invite all political parties capable of forming a group in the new parliament for talks on Tuesday and Wednesday, a source close to Macron said on Monday.
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The loss of an absolute majority in his ensemble alliance is a painful setback for Macron, who won a second term just two months ago. French governments have long relied on a lower house that shares their policies and broadly approves proposals.
“We have to think about a new way of working at an institutional level,” Clement Beaune, minister for European affairs, a close ally of the French president, told LCI television.
Sunday’s second-round voting left the Ensemble as the strongest party, with a fledgling left coalition in second place, the far right stronger than ever and the Conservatives as potential kingmakers. Continue reading
“It’s getting complicated,” government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire told Radio France Inter. “We have to be creative.”
Macron must now either form a broader coalition or accept the leadership of a minority government that will negotiate score for score with opponents. His only consolation is that the opposition groups are bitter rivals themselves and are in part torn.
“Such a fragmented parliament is likely to result in political deadlock with a much slower reform agenda,” said Barclays’ Philippe Gudin.
“This will likely weaken France’s position in Europe and endanger the country’s already weak fiscal position.”
High-ranking figures from the far left and far right have called on Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to resign after just over a month in office.
Gregoire said Macron will reshuffle his government soon.
WHAT NOW?
French President Emmanuel Macron makes a statement as he visits NATO forces at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase near the city of Constanta, Romania, June 15, 2022. Yoan Valat/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The broad left Nupes alliance of Jean-Luc Melenchon and the extreme right of Marine Le Pen vowed to relentlessly persecute Macron and his government in parliament.
A key question is whether Macron will try to reach an agreement with the conservative Les Republicains (LR) or go down the minority government route.
Les Republicains leader Christian Jacob said the party would remain in opposition. But while he described the stance as “almost unanimous,” some prominent members have hinted that the party should work with the government and act as kingmaker.
Ensemble and the Conservatives have compatible economic platforms, including support for higher retirement ages and nuclear energy. Together they would have the absolute majority.
FIRST TESTS
Some cracks appeared on the left side.
While Melenchon said Borne should face a vote of confidence, Socialist leader Olivier Faure, another senior figure within the left-wing coalition, said calling for Borne’s impeachment was not the bloc’s common position for now.
If Macron fails to reach an agreement with the opposition, the eurozone’s second largest economy faces a political standstill and possible early elections.
A first major test will be a cost-of-living law, which Gregoire said the government will present in eight days when the new parliament meets for the first time.
Renewable energy proposals due later in the summer will test the left, which is divided over nuclear power.
The final figures showed Macron’s centrist camp winning 245 seats – well below the 289 needed for an outright majority, Nupes 131, the far-right 89 and Les Republicains 61.
Macron himself has not yet commented on the election result, and the opposition has urged him to break his silence.
While the weekend’s vote was a major setback for the 44-year-old president, whose victory in April made him the first French president in two decades to secure a second term, financial markets largely accepted the outcome. The euro and equities showed little impact, while French bonds saw some mounting pressure on Monday.
“The hope that some foreign exchange traders placed on Macron in 2017 has long since evaporated, so that election victories or defeats no longer play a major role in euro exchange rates,” said Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann in a statement.
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Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas, Myriam Rivet, Julien Ponthus, Elizabeth Pineau, Richard Lough, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Tassilo Hummel; writing by Ingrid Melander; Edited by Catherine Evans and Tomasz Janowski
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