• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Europe
  4. Macron allies seek to salvage power after ‘Jupiter lost his thunder’
Europe

Macron allies seek to salvage power after ‘Jupiter lost his thunder’

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 20 Jun 2022 13:06

French President Emmanuel Macron faces the prospect of having to seek backing from parliamentary rivals in order to protect his plans.

  • Macron allies seek to salvage power after ‘Jupiter lost his thunder’.
    Macron allies seek to salvage power after ‘Jupiter lost his thunder’

French President Emmanuel Macron and his allies were scrambling Monday for a way out of a political impasse after losing their parliamentary majority in a surprise defeat for the president and his reform proposals.

Macron's Ensemble (Together) coalition won the most seats in Sunday's National Assembly poll but fell dozens of seats short of retaining the parliamentary majority it had had for the previous five years.

Surges on the left and far-right undermined Macron's deputies, who had consistently supported the president's policies over the previous five years. Turnout was low, with the abstention rate recorded at 53.77%.

'A slap' 

The result was seen as a "slap in the face" for Macron by the left-leaning Liberation daily, while the conservative Le Figaro claimed he was now "fronted with an ungovernable France."

Macron's backers may now seek a majority by creating alliances with other right-wing parties, causing turbulence in French politics not seen in decades.

Read next: Macron to lose parliamentary majority in blow for "reform" plans

According to the Interior Ministry, the new left-wing alliance NUPES gained 131 seats in the election to become the major opposition group.

However, it is questionable whether the combination of Socialists, Communists, Greens, and France Unbowed will remain a unified bloc in the National Assembly.

Far-right Le Pen 

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen's far-right party had its best parliamentary result in history, becoming the strongest single opposition party with 89 seats, up from eight in the previous chamber.

A confident Le Pen stated that her party would demand to chair the important finance commission of the National Assembly, as is customary for the largest opposition party.

"The country is not ungovernable, but it's not going to be governed the way Emmanuel Macron wanted," Le Pen told reporters Monday.

Far-left Melenchon 

Far-left The NUPES alliance's leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, said he would launch a resolution of no confidence against Macron's Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne as soon as Parliament reconvenes in July.

Borne, who was elected to Parliament in her maiden political contest, was considered as vulnerable as Macron confronts a new cabinet shake-up following the loss of several of his senior friends.

Read next: Melenchon hails Macron's failure in elections

His health and environment ministers lost their seats and will have to quit by convention, as did the house speaker and the head of Macron's parliament group.

"We will see in the coming hours, but for now the prime minister remains the prime minister," government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire told France Inter radio Monday. "My fear is that the country is paralyzed," she added. 

'Turning point' 

The outcome tainted Macron's April presidential election triumph, in which he defeated Le Pen and became the first French President to win a second term in almost two decades.

"It's a turning point for his image of invincibility," said Bruno Cautres, a researcher at the Centre for Political Research of Sciences Po.

Macron's choices, which he has yet to publicly comment on, include forming a new coalition alliance, passing legislation based on ad hoc agreements, and even calling new elections.

His coalition garnered 245 seats, falling far short of the 288 required for an overall majority. "The route of the presidential party is total," Melenchon told supporters.

Alexis Corbiere, a key MP from Melenchon's party, said Macron's plan to raise the French retirement age to 65 was now "sunk".

Macron had wanted to mark his second term with an ambitious tax-cutting, welfare-reform, and retirement-age increase agenda. All of that is now in doubt.

"It will be much more difficult to govern," said Dominique Rousseau, professor of law at Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Moreover, as the president attempts to reach out to new parties, there might be weeks of political gridlock. The most likely alternative would be an alliance with the Republicans, France's historic right-wing party with 61 MPs.

  • French elections
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Marine Le Pen
  • France
  • Jean-Luc Melenchon

Trending Now

All
Mélenchon calls on voters to make him PM

Mélenchon calls on voters to make him PM

Most Read

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine counteroffensive

London posts job ad for mercenaries for Ukraine's counteroffensive

  • Africa
  • 24 May
The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

The Middle East Stabilises, Against the Backdrop of a Great Unravelling

  • Analysis
  • 28 May
In this image released by the Italian firefighters, a helicopter searches for missing passengers after a tourist boat capsized in a storm on Italy's Lago Maggiore in the northern Lombardy region, May 28, 2023 (AP)

Top Israeli intelligence official dead in Italy: Israeli media

  • Europe
  • 29 May
The domestically produced C919 passenger jet flies at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, Peoeple's Republic of China, 8 November 2022. (Reuters)

China is set to launch first commercial flight on its C919 plane

  • Asia
  • 26 May

Read this

All
Chief of the Australian Defence Force Gen. Angus Campbell bites his lips while delivering the findings from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry, in Canberra, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. (AP)
Asia Pacific

Australian Defense bans drinking while deployed due to war crimes

  • 30 May
Elon Musk
Asia

Musk in China, Tesla to continue expanding business with Asian giant

  • 30 May
The US Treasury Building is viewed in Washington, US on May 4, 2021. (AP)
US & Canada

US issues new sanctions on Syria, targets two money service businesses

  • 30 May
Casualties in Ukraine strike on evacuee housing centers in Belgorod
Europe

Casualties in Ukraine strike on evacuee housing center in Belgorod

  • 30 May
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS