EDITORIAL. When the Winter Olympics are invited into the choice of the Prime Minister

The IOC has awarded the organization of the Winter Olympics to the French Alps but on condition that a financial guarantee is provided. Emmanuel Macron has therefore announced that he will ask the future tenant of Matignon to ensure that of the State.

The Head of State’s precision is not innocent, given the political context. It obviously raises the question of who will be Prime Minister to give the financial guarantee necessary for the organization of the Winter Olympics without which France’s candidacy cannot be confirmed.

Of course, we have some time since the Olympic Committee has given France until October 1st to hand over the precious sesame. But, given the environmental stakes of these Winter Games, it is hard to see how a member of the New Popular Front could give his carte blanche for this event. Proof of this is the reaction of the Green MP Sandrine Rousseau who posted on X: “There will be no more snow in 2030”.

In fact, this new constraint leads Emmanuel Macron to move even further away from the left while the New Popular Front puts pressure on him by proposing the name of Lucie Castets for Matignon.

Let’s say that at the moment, the president is very open to this side of the political spectrum. On Wednesday, also on the occasion of the awarding of these Winter Olympics, Emmanuel Macron met and spoke with Laurent Wauquiez, who was there as president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region to defend France’s candidacy. And it was interesting to see how Emmanuel Macron was all smiles with the leader of the right, after having praised, during his interview the day before, Laurent Wauquiez’s approach of making proposals, of presenting a legislative pact: “It’s going in the right direction in my eyes”said Emmanuel Macron.

A sign that between the presidential camp and this fringe of the Republicans, there is certainly a convergence of interests. The two blocs circle each other. Not to mention that Emmanuel Macron and Laurent Wauquiez now have a common enemy, Éric Ciotti, who has joined the National Rally. And having a common enemy, in politics, always brings people together.

Laurent Wauquiez is therefore the winner of this sequence. This dissolution allows him to return to the forefront, while he was rather in the background. It allowed him to negotiate with Gabriel Attal the distribution of key positions in the Assembly. While the Republicans have fewer deputies than in the previous term, they have won two vice-presidencies and a quaestor position. The fact remains that Laurent Wauquiez, whose objective remains the 2027 presidential election, is walking on eggshells. He is trying to bargain with the presidential camp while refusing to participate in a coalition. Moreover, even if it were successful, this coalition between the central bloc and LR would not be sufficient to form a majority in the Assembly. It would still have to be expanded, which is no easy task.