A Small News for a Big Crisis in France
Emmanuel Macron announced sudden parliamentary elections in France with the aim of breaking the surge of extreme right-wing power in his country following Marine Le Pen’s victories in the European elections. This big risk led to an initial victory for Le Pen’s party in the first round of parliamentary elections and heightened concerns about the future of French politics.
However, with a remarkable balancing act, he joined forces with the leftists, and the left-wing parties, which had unprecedentedly set aside their long-standing divisions and united, collaborated with Macron’s centrist party to push back the extreme right-wingers.
Macron’s big gamble ultimately paid off, surprising all analysts, and due to the election results, the country was plunged into a creeping crisis because of the formation of a parliament lacking a party with a decisive majority.
Hosting the Olympic Games was an opportunity for France and Macron himself to catch a breath with the joys and celebrations of sports and culture, and now it’s time to appoint a prime minister and form a government that can endure in the current unstable parliament.
Macron’s serious negotiations with political groups and figures to form a government are ongoing, and the news of these negotiations is extremely hot. However, news arrived that overshadowed these updates: Édouard Philippe, France’s Prime Minister from 2017 to 2020 and a former ally of Macron, whose relationship with the President gradually cooled, intensified their rift with severe criticism of Macron for announcing the sudden parliamentary elections.
Nonetheless, no one expected him to take a serious step to increase the country’s political instability and Macron’s position. Philippe has now announced that he will run for the upcoming French presidential election as the leader of a centrist party.
Naturally, the first step is to reach the leadership of the centrists, but even this candidacy announcement has severely weakened Macron’s position.
Philippe’s official announcement caught Macron by surprise because the day before this announcement, the two had met and talked, and Philippe did not inform Macron about his candidacy. The key point in Philippe’s candidacy story, which has impacted European politics, is the new behind-the-scenes news about his plan.
Figures close to Édouard Philippe have told reporters that he not only has plans for the election scheduled according to the French presidential term in 2027, but he also believes that Macron will not last until then, and 2025 will be the year Macron steps down and an early French presidential election takes place.
