France’s Political Crisis Deepens: Macron Faces Calls for Early Polls
France is facing a deepening political crisis, with growing calls for President Emmanuel Macron to call an early presidential election. Édouard Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister, has urged the president to appoint a new premier to pass a budget and then call early elections to resolve the crisis.
“We are not going to prolong what we have been experiencing for the past six months. Another 18 months is far too long and it is damaging France. The political game we are playing today is distressing,” Philippe said on RTL radio. He emphasized that immediate resignation would have a terrible impact and prevent a presidential election from taking place under good conditions
Philippe’s comments come after France’s third prime minister in a year, Sébastien Lecornu, resigned on Monday after his bid to form a government fell apart. Macron has asked Lecornu to prepare a last-ditch stability plan by Wednesday, but support for the president appears to be waning even among his allies.
Gabriel Attal, who leads Macron’s Renaissance party and was prime minister for six months in 2024, said on national TV that he “no longer understands the decisions made by the president of the republic.” Attal added that the president had tried to re-establish control three times in the past year, and it was now time to share power with other parties: “I think we should try something else”.
Macron’s centrist bloc lost its parliamentary majority after he called a snap parliamentary election in response to a defeat in last year’s European Parliament vote. The president’s poll ratings have nose-dived in recent months, with a survey suggesting 53% of French people think he should stand down.
The crisis has also seen growing dissent within Macron’s own ranks, with some calling for a more inclusive approach. Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, has echoed Philippe’s call for early elections, suggesting a dissolution of parliament followed by parliamentary elections or early presidential elections. #France’s Political Crisis Deepens: Macron Faces Calls for Early Polls#
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