Tamas Ronai
France, French Parliament, Emmanuel Macron, Parliamentary elections;
2022-06-20 10:41:00
Reforms will be needed, and instead the decision-making process will slow down.
“Going into the unknown,” Le Figaro deservedly assessed the result of the French parliamentary elections. In fact, in the history of the Fifth Republic, a group of elected presidents did not obtain an absolute majority after the election of the head of state. Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne herself noted bitterly that there had never been an example of a Parliament with this composition, so the Cabinet had to make concessions.
We can also say that the left-wing radical Jean-Luc Mélenchon has overpowered the president’s mind, but in fact he has caused the biggest problem for France, because fearing the danger of the left, many voted for Marine Le Pen’s party, National Focus, in the second on Sunday. The presidential election round and won nearly 90 seats. There were not a large number of representatives of the far right in the legislature in Paris.
The coalition, represented by Macron, represented by Macron, would have needed 289 seats for an absolute majority, but only 246 seats would make it very difficult to adopt the necessary reforms to regulate public finances. Had they left the government with just one or two seats, they would surely have found some “disguised” citizens in the opposition ranks. However, with the support of more than forty deputies, it is likely that Macron will have to abandon a series of reforms. The government is expected to try to work primarily with center-right Republicans (LRs), a solution proposed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, but many oppose any association within the party with the presidential election coalition. Usually, when Sarkozy came up with this idea, many called him a traitor. Several lawmakers elected on Monday vowed not to cooperate with the government coalition.
The Socialist Party can be an important partner of “Together”. Melenchon’s leftist coalition, the Ecological and Social Union of the New People (Nupes), is made up of several parties with different ideologies. The Socialists went to the polls along with the Eurosceptic Milchanton because they took it for granted that they could form a faction in Parliament. This is their computation, but Nupes is not a single matrix. The leaders of the parties who started in the coalition of the left also stressed that the cooperation will continue until the vote, but in the new parliament each constituency will form a separate political group, that is, the great unity will not last long, and cracks within the coalition may exist. I felt before the election. So Macron’s array could also unite with the pro-European left, or at least try to cooperate.
Despite the Left Alliance’s good performance with 142 seats, Mélenchon cannot be considered a real winner either. Although he managed to block an absolute majority in the party “Together”, his big dream of being elected Prime Minister of France did not come true. In any case, the truth is that the public did not want Macron to have much power either. According to a survey conducted just before the vote, 70% of those surveyed said they should avoid getting an absolute majority together. Yes, but is it really in the country’s interest to have a slower decision-making process and a more difficult institutional system?
The big question is, too, how much damage will it do to the dozens of National Concentration members. Marine Le Pen, who celebrated the result with understandable enthusiasm, can be described as the only real winner of the vote, and in his words, the legislature is “getting a little more patriotic”. We are protecting the country from an uncontrollable head of state. We want to be a responsible and constructive opposition. Because our only compass is in the interest of France and the French people. He described immigration, security and unemployment as the most important issues affecting the country. He also said that he will permanently leave the head of the national concentration to devote his work to the parliamentary bloc. As the parties that make up the Nupest form their own faction, the RN will have the second largest faction.
Now the president’s camp seems a bit clueless. No wonder three ministers, including the environment minister, Amelie de Montchalin, a top advocate, must leave, because those who lost in their constituencies cannot stay. Government spokeswoman Olivia Gregoire said a change of government was expected in the coming days. Although Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has won a seat in his narrow patriarch, Calvados, his position is clearly weakened as well.
