{"id":2397,"date":"2025-10-11T12:07:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:07:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2025-10-11T12:07:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T12:07:41","slug":"does-french-turmoil-spell-the-end-of-macronism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=2397","title":{"rendered":"Does French turmoil spell the end of Macronism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Emmanuel Macron cut a sombre figure in the vast, sepulchral Panth\u00e9on during a ceremony to inter a former French justice minister this week.<\/p>\n

It was a stark reminder of the president\u2019s increased isolation as former allies turn against him and his popularity plummets in the midst of a political turmoil for which he is largely being blamed. <\/p>\n

The late minister Robert Badinter was \u201ccriticised, attacked, mocked, vilified, insulted, abused, even hated\u201d for his life\u2019s work to abolish the death penalty and legalise homosexuality, Macron said in his speech on Thursday, perhaps seeing some parallels with his own situation.<\/p>\n

The death of Macronism has been predicted before. However, after a week of chaos \u2014 with S\u00e9bastien Lecornu being reappointed as prime minister on Friday evening less than a week after resigning \u2014 it has become increasingly clear that France\u2019s near-decade long experiment with Macron\u2019s form of insurgent centrist politics is coming to an end.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the end of Macron. He has lost all credibility,\u201d said an adviser to the right-wing Les R\u00e9publicains party, which on Monday triggered Lecornu\u2019s resignation when it pulled out of his government. \u201cFirst we will see the end of his political system, and then of him as a character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emmanuel<\/picture>
Macron pays his respects next to a casket in the Panth\u00e9on during an induction ceremony for the late ex-minister of justice Robert Badinter on Thursday<\/span> \u00a9 Christophe Ena\/Pool\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anti-presidential sentiment is a routine feature of French political life. Macron\u2019s predecessor Fran\u00e7ois Hollande, a Socialist politician who lasted only one term in office, was even more hated than the current president. <\/p>\n

But aside from his popularity sliding, Macron\u2019s legacy is also at risk \u2014 as his parliamentary bloc has fractured, and allies have opened the door to halting some of his main economic policies, such as raising the retirement age to 64.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is Le Macronisme<\/em>? It\u2019s a liberal economic policy, a very pro-European stance, it\u2019s a will to reform our country, it\u2019s pretty firm on security,\u201d said Charles Rodwell, an MP from Macron\u2019s Renaissance party.\u00a0\u201cIf we decide to pull back and to abandon the pensions reform, it\u2019s like giving up part of our identity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Macron\u2019s attempt to redefine French politics could prove as fleeting as his rise was meteoric.<\/p>\n

Macron\u2019s ascent to the top job in 2017 \u201cbroke the classic political alternation between the right and left in France\u201d, said a person close to the president. \u201cWas that a ten-year parenthesis, or will we have a political life that is split in three in the long term?\u201d Whether his movement and its policy record endure \u201cwill be up to history to judge\u201d, the person said.<\/p>\n

Back in 2017, the former Rothschild banker won the presidency despite having previously held no elected office and only having served one term as Hollande\u2019s economy minister. His disrupter approach pulled talent from both the centre-left and the centre-right, and the private sector. Young people signed up to campaign for him in droves, bringing a generation of fresh faces into government.<\/p>\n

Now Macron\u2019s centrist alliance of three parties is falling apart while the parties on the centre-left and centre-right are deeply divided over whether to provide the support it needs to govern. Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen\u2019s Rassemblement National is casting itself as a stable force ready to govern.<\/p>\n

\"Marine<\/picture>
Marine Le Pen is casting herself as head of a stable force ready to govern<\/span> \u00a9 Tom Nicholson\/Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Macron\u2019s own camp \u201cdoes not show signs of good health\u201d, admitted Fran\u00e7ois Patriat, a Renaissance senator. \u201cIt\u2019s a lamentable spectacle. The parties are tearing themselves apart. The problem isn\u2019t at the \u00c9lys\u00e9e, it\u2019s parliament. They can\u2019t compromise, so they\u2019re demanding the resignation of the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Le Pen and far-left opposition parties who have long called for Macron\u2019s resignation were joined this week by his former prime minister and presidential hopeful Edouard Philippe, who told Le Figaro that the crisis was threatening \u201cthe authority and stability of the state\u201d.<\/p>\n

Macron, whose term runs until 2027, has always said he will serve out his mandate.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Attal, another former prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Macron whose premiership was cut short by the president\u2019s decision to call early parliamentary elections last year, said he \u201cno longer understood the president\u2019s decisions\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Macron\u2019s two terms in office have been marked by multiple crises, from the anti-government Gilets Jaunes protests in 2018 to the economic and social woes of the Covid-19 pandemic and his deeply unpopular pensions overhaul. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/picture>
A nationwide inter-union protest day was held earlier this month to protest against proposed austerity measures<\/span> \u00a9 Yoan Valat\/EPA\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the current turmoil can be traced back to his failed wager last year to dissolve the National Assembly in a bid to stem the rise of Le Pen\u2019s party, which had just won in European parliament elections. The snap vote cost Macron\u2019s bloc its ability to govern and pass budgets, and strengthened the far-right.<\/p>\n

As his influence on domestic politics has diminished, Macron has thrown himself into diplomacy on issues including European defence, Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. He hosted Arab and European foreign ministers in Paris this week to discuss Gaza\u2019s postwar reconstruction. He brokered the first meeting between a newly re-elected President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in December.<\/p>\n

But the current mood within Macron\u2019s own camp was described as \u201cbleak\u201d this week following Lecornu\u2019s resignation. Cabinet aides and advisers are sending out CVs as they look for jobs in the private sector, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. \u201cThe 2024 dissolution was stupid and annoying \u2014 but people felt it was important and a duty to campaign, especially against the far-right. Now that energy has leached away,\u201d said an outgoing cabinet adviser.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The president was seen this week walking along the banks of the Seine, a lone figure in black with a phone glued to his ear. People close to him said he remained resolute, focused on the need to adopt the 2026 budget and optimistic about finding a way out of the current impasse, though saddened by the state of France.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Supporters hail this as a strength. \u201cThe president is a warrior; he will go all the way to save what he can of the reforms, of what he built,\u201d said Renaissance MP Karl Olive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His camp is still hopeful that against all odds a deal will be done. Perhaps that is the most Macronist trait of all: a relentless confidence \u2014 even in the face of history, obstacles, naysayers and errors\u00a0\u2014 that a path forward can be forged. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a sad sight, but somewhere there is still a possibility that there is light shining out of this darkness,\u201d said the person close to the president. \u201cIt is only at the end of the ball that the orchestra gets paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

But others see an overconfident and increasingly detached president who imposes his solutions despite mounting evidence they do not work. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge mess; meanwhile the court around the president is keeping him optimistic\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009It\u2019s a disaster,\u201d said a former adviser.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Macron himself has no idea what he\u2019s going to do: he\u2019s navigating blind,\u201d said a French executive. \u201cLet\u2019s hope it\u2019s not the Titanic.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#French #turmoil #spell #Macronism<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emmanuel Macron cut a sombre figure in the vast, sepulchral Panth\u00e9on during a ceremony to inter a former French justice minister this week. It was a stark reminder of the president\u2019s increased isolation as former allies turn against him and his popularity plummets in the midst of a political turmoil for which he is largely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1160,1162,1161,493],"class_list":{"0":"post-2397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-french","9":"tag-macronism","10":"tag-spell","11":"tag-turmoil"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}