COPY LINK

POLITICS

Macron suffers fresh defections from ruling party in French parliament

Seven French MPs on Tuesday quit President Emmanuel Macron's party to join a new formation in parliament, dealing a fresh blow to the majority after several other lawmakers defected last week.

Published: 26 May 2020 16:36 CEST

Macron suffers fresh defections from ruling party in French parliament

French president Emmanuel Macron's party has lost its absolute majority in parliament. Photo: AFP

Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) last week lost its outright parliamentary majority after 17 MPs defected, although officials insisted the party will have no problem pushing through legislation.

The seven latest MPs to leave will join a new faction called “Agir Ensemble” (Act Together), which will be the 10th parliamentary grouping in France's National Assembly, a record number in modern France.

They said the new faction – while remaining loyal to the LREM – would be “agile” and in a position to shake things up after the coronavirus passes.

The move lowers the number of LREM MPs in the chamber to 281, short of the absolute majority of 289.

The party enjoyed a wide majority, with 314 MPs, following 2017 parliamentary elections in the wake of Macron's rise to power.

However, the majority has been steadily eroded, a process that has sped up in recent weeks even though the LREM still retains the support of the centrist MoDem faction.

The head of the new faction, Olivier Becht, insisted that the new formation was not in opposition and would “support the action of the president” and be a “third pillar of the majority” alongside LREM and MoDem.

A government source shrugged off the latest changes, saying the Act Together faction would be “absolutely loyal to the majority and a supplementary pillar”.

However another source said that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had criticised the move at an online meeting with LREM MPs.

Macron is facing re-election in 2022 in what many analysts expect will be a two-horse race with far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

An Odoxo opinion poll published Tuesday said Macron's popularity had plunged seven points to 35 percent over the last month, almost wiping out gains he had made at the helm of France's coronavirus fightback.

Last week 17 members of LREM party said they had formed a new political grouping named “Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity” (EDS) to pursue greener policies, “modernise” the political system, and reduce social inequalities.

Member comments

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Cohabitation

The far-right Rassemblement National of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and current party leader Jordan Bardella are tipped to be the party with most seats after the second round on July 7th.

If the RN and its allies did secure a majority in the Assemblée Nationale – and current polling suggests this is doubtful – Macron would find himself in a “cohabitation“, in which the president and government are from opposing parties.

Post-war France has experienced three such forced marriages. All were between the left and the centre-right with the last from 1997-2002 between President Jacques Chirac and Socialist premier Lionel Jospin.

Cohabitation: What happens in France’s political ‘forced marriages’?

A cohabition between the Macron and his far-right arch-enemies would likely be a much unhappier affair.

While the far-right would be able to implement part of its domestic programme, on, for example, curtailing immigration, only the president can call a referendum or trigger a vote on constitutional changes.

The president, who usually sets foreign and defence policy, could also find his hands tied if the RN appointed nationalist defence and foreign ministers opposed to his worldview.

Coalition

France has spurned coalitions since the post-war 4th Republic (1946-1958) when the country went through 22 governments in 12 years.

Since losing his parliamentary majority in 2022, Macron has sought to cobble together alliances in parliament on a vote-by-vote basis or to force through legislation without a vote rather than form a pact with another party.

The RN or the left could try do the same if they fall short of a majority but a minority government of the far-right or left would likely fail to pass a vote of no confidence.

Aware of the risks, RN leader Bardella has said he will refuse to become prime minister unless he wins an outright majority.

Macron’s camp hopes that in the event of a hung parliament it could form a coalition with moderates of the left and right.

As part of its outreach to possible allies, Macron’s party has not entered candidates in 67 constituencies where centre-right or centre-left candidates are running.

But Macron has limited his options by putting the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) — the dominant force in the NFP — on a par with the far-right in what he calls the country’s “extremes”. He accuses LFI of anti-Semitism, which it rejects.

Caretaker government

Another option would be for Macron to appoint a technocratic non-partisan government which all parties could get behind.

Camille Bedock, a political scientist at the Emile Durckheim centre in Bordeaux, cites the example of Italy, where respected former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi formed a national unity government in 2021 when Italy was in turmoil. It lasted a year-and-a-half.

Bedock said Macron could also decide to leave the current government headed by his party’s Gabriel Attal in place in a caretaker capacity for a year. He could then call new elections.

This would have the benefit of ensuring continuity through the Olympic Games (July 26th – August 11th) when the country will be under intense global scrutiny.

Whether the far-right or left would support such a move, which would effectively buy Macron time to try turn around his presidency, is highly uncertain.

Macron resigns

The most dramatic scenario would see Macron resign if faced with the prospect of being neutered by the far right or the hard left.

Le Pen, who is expected to try succeed Macron in 2027 presidential polls, has warned that he “will have no choice but to resign” in the event of a “political crisis”.

Macron has vowed to remain on office until the end of his second term in 2027, whatever the outcome.

You can follow all the latest election news HERE or sign up to receive by email our bi-weekly election breakdown