Macron tries to rebuild French govt after refusing to step down
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French President Emmanuel Macron addressing the nation during a televised broadcast from the presidential Elysee Palace on Dec 5.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS - France’s President Emmanuel Macron met key politicians on Dec 6 in an effort to cobble together a new administration, a day after saying he will serve out the remainder of his presidential term.
“The mandate you gave me democratically is for five years and I will exercise it fully to its term,” Mr Macron, whose term ends in 2027, said in a televised speech on the evening of Dec 5.
He said he will appoint in the coming days a new premier, who will be tasked with forming a government of general interest representing all the political forces committed to not censuring it.
The speech came a day after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was evicted from office in a no-confidence vote
France has been in a political limbo since Mr Macron called a snap national vote in June after getting trounced in European elections.
That left the Lower House split into three fiercely opposed blocs: a diminished centre supporting the president, a leftist alliance, and a strengthened National Rally, led by the far-right politician Ms Marine Le Pen, which is now the biggest party in Parliament.
On Dec 6, Mr Macron met leaders of his party and its allies in Parliament, as well as with centre-right politicians.
While they were not on that list, Mr Macron was also looking to Socialist lawmakers for support for a new government.
Socialist leader Olivier Faure said early on Dec 6 he was ready to start talking with Mr Macron about possible support for a new government.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up what I want,” he said on France Info radio. “What I want is mutual concessions.”
Mr Macron said the goal of far-right and far-left lawmakers in voting for the no-confidence motion was to try to provoke an early presidential election.
“They voted for disorder,” he said. “They voted not to create, but to break down.”
Mr Macron said the new government’s priority will be approving a Budget, with a special law submitted to Parliament before mid-December. But any new leader will face the same political gridlock that brought down Mr Barnier.
“We have 30 months left of the mandate you have given me,” Mr Macron said in his speech. “Thirty months for the government to be able to act to make France a fairer and stronger country.” BLOOMBERG
