Emmanuel Macron acknowledges for the first time the failure of the majority

The president broke the silence he had observed since the legislative elections on Tuesday.

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President Emmanuel Macron, July 24, 2024 on France2. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)

This is the first time that the President of the Republic has acknowledged that his camp did not win the legislative elections, that he has said so explicitly, even speaking of the failure of the majority. A rather unexpected admission when we know Emmanuel Macron’s propensity to turn events in his favor.

But on Tuesday, July 23, the president also largely emphasized that no one could claim to have won, and that neither the New Popular Front, nor the outgoing majority, nor the Republican right had won. In fact, no one can implement a program alone. He also noted that the party that came out on top in the legislative elections was the National Rally, a way of implicitly specifying that the Assembly leans to the right. In passing, he took the opportunity to express his disapproval of the distribution of key positions within the Assembly, excluding far-right deputies: “There are no sub-deputies,” he slipped. A tackle addressed to all those who wanted to prolong the Republican Front within the hemicycle itself.

In this fragmented political landscape, Emmanuel Macron called for compromises. He asked the parliamentary groups to be able to work together, reminding them of their responsibilities, emphasizing, in this regard, the approach of the voters, who in the second round of the legislative elections, to block the RN, were able to overcome divisions. It is therefore up to the deputies to surpass themselves. Emmanuel Macron has posed as the guarantor of the country’s stability but also to pass texts, the budget, reforms. He wants a bloc to govern.

The New Popular Front made him a proposal for Matignon just before he spoke. The left-wing bloc had managed to reach an agreement in a few hours, and proposed the candidacy of Lucie Castets just before the president’s interview on France2 and franceinfo. Without even mentioning her, Emmanuel Macron assured that it was not a question of name and dismissed the subject in a few minutes. Moreover, he stressed that, even when the New Popular Front agrees on a single candidate for the presidency of the Assembly, in the person of André Chassaigne, the left-wing bloc does not prevail in the hemicycle. On the contrary, the head of state was rather welcoming to the initiative of Laurent Wauquiez’s right. In his eyes, the process of developing a legislative pact is the path to take, the way to follow, like a new pawn placed on the right.

To sum up, Emmanuel Macron invites the different blocs to get out of their racing lanes. And to continue the Olympic metaphor, to be able, depending on the disciplines, to team up to make France win. Even if for the moment, he has very clearly indicated that his priority is neither Matignon, nor political battles, but rather Friday’s ceremony, where he will welcome the entire world.


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