French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to censure any government put forward by President Emmanuel Macron, arguing that the only way out of the ongoing political crisis would be to hold elections.
President Macron has given himself a second 48-hour deadline to find a replacement for Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, who became the shortest tenured PM in modern French history earlier this week after his government imploded from within just hours after he unveiled what was seen as a continuity Macron cabinet.
Lecornu appeared on national television on Wednesday evening after holding talks with the disparate factions of the National Assembly. Rumours swirled in the Paris press throughout the day that Lecornu may stage a comeback and attempt to form a second government within a week. However, speaking to France 2, the Macron ally said that his “mission is complete” suggesting that he has no interest in taking up residency in the Hôtel Matignon again.
Rumours also spread that Lecornu was seeking to come to a grand bargain with the Socialist Party, which would see the leftist party back a new government in exchange for the walking back of controversial pension age increases imposed on the country undemocratically by a previous Macron government.
Suggestions also emerged that Macron could appoint a Socialist or other leftist politician as prime minister as he desperately clings to power. However, it remains to be seen whether the Socialists would want to risk getting any of Macron’s stink on them, potentially opening up the party to further leftist challengers such as from La France Insoumise (LFI/France in Rebellion) of former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Meanwhile, former Interior Minister and leader of the centre-right Les Républicains, Bruno Retailleau — whose threat of resignation collapsed the government earlier this week — has vowed to not participate in any government headed by a Macronist or leftist.
Regardless, depending on the numbers of votes in the Assembly, it will be difficult for any potential government to survive the censorship promised by both the LFI and the National Rally.
Speaking from Clermont-Ferrand on Wednesday afternoon, Marine Le Pen accused the political class of being willing to “cut off a limb” to remain in power, saying: “They are dying of fear of returning to the voters. If that’s the case, we have to do something else.”
The National Rally leader and current presidential frontrunner, vowed: “I will censor all governments until they are dissolved, since that would prevent the people from expressing themselves.”
Le Pen’s deputy, Jordan Bardella also reiterated the populist party’s demand to hold legislative elections, saying: “We need to get back in front of the French people. We’ve seen for the past few hours that all scheming is good for preventing the dissolution. It’s time to put an end to the negotiations and get back to the elections.”
“The French people must be able to express themselves. This has to stop, and the Macronists must understand that they lost the European and legislative elections [of 2024],” Bardella added.
The political chaos in Paris and the merry-go-round of prime ministers [five since the beginning of 2024] has taken its toll on the popularity of President Macron. Although the former Rothschild banker — who once vowed to govern as a Greek God — has maintained that he will not resign before the end of his second and final term in office, it does not appear that the French public want him to do so.
According to a survey released on Wednesday by Les Échos, Macron’s approval rating has hit a new low of just 14 per cent, putting him on par with the low recorded by socialist president François Hollande in 2016.
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