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Emmanuel Macron has launched an appeal for political rivals to rally behind his centrist platform and fight what he described as the “extremist fever” gripping France at both ends of the political spectrum.
The French president, who triggered snap parliamentary elections after his centrist party lost heavily to Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National in a vote for the European parliament on Sunday, justified his move that has sent shockwaves throughout financial markets.
“I do not want to give the keys of power to the far right in 2027, so I fully accept having triggered a movement to provide clarification,” a combative Macron told a news conference on Wednesday.
He also dismissed reports he could resign before his term is up in 2027, saying he wanted “to nip that one in the bud”.
“I’m not a defeatist,” he said, brushing off questions over what would happen if a surging RN came close to an outright majority in parliament or even clinched one, opening a scenario in which France’s next prime minister could hail from the far right. “I trust my countrymen and women.”
The two-round vote, set to take place on June 30 and July 7, gives parties a tight window to campaign and forge electoral alliances. Macron has not had an outright parliamentary majority since the last general elections in 2022, which left his centrist alliance struggling to pass legislation under a constant threat of no-confidence motions in the fractured parliament.
The outcome of the snap elections could upend the political order and send shockwaves across Europe if Le Pen and her protégé Jordan Bardella gain even more ground. They would need just over three times as many lawmakers as they have now to secure 289 out of the assembly’s 577 seats. Early polls have shown an RN surge, though still short of an outright majority.
Macron’s strategy now partly resides in trying to spook voters tempted by the RN as he claimed their economic policies would impoverish France.
“It’s simple — today we have unnatural alliances on both extremes that agree on nothing and are not capable of applying a political programme,” he said, while appealing to moderate politicians across the spectrum to join his platform, saying he was open to compromise.
Rival forces have so far shunned Macron’s overtures to form a common bloc. Presidential advisers said the offer expressed on Wednesday applied not just to the election run-up but also to whatever result emerges afterwards, when more horse-trading to form parliamentary majorities could occur.
In addition to lambasting the RN, Macron was equally scathing of the far-left La France Insoumise, which is part of another electoral alliance taking shape — and of the conservative leader, Éric Ciotti, who on Tuesday called on his party to join forces with the RN.
“Since Sunday night the masks are falling,” Macron said.
Many heavyweights in Ciotti’s Les Républicains party pushed back against his planned alliance, which breaks decades of Gaullist tradition that refused any collaboration with the far right.
Macron also outlined some of his priorities on Wednesday, including doing more to help household budgets, and offered to build “a new project” with politicians and people “who do not recognise themselves in the extremist fever”.
The French president is next heading to Italy for a G7 summit and is not supposed to use his position to campaign for his party, though Wednesday’s news conference blurred those lines.
The dismissal of parliament on Sunday has meant legislative proceedings are on hold. Macron said on Wednesday he was also suspending an electoral reform project that had sparked fierce protests in the Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
