A timeline of recent events in France:
- June 10 – Result of European parliament election:
Rassemblement national RN (rightwing populist) - 30 seats
Besoin d’Europe (Macron’s alliance) – 13 seats
Reveriller l’Europe (socialist) – 13 seats
LFI (left wing) – 9 seats
Marine Le Pen, the head of RN competed with Macron at the second run of last French presidential election.)
- June 10 - President Macron called for snap parliament elections.
- June 30 - First round voting of National Assembly election
- July 7 - Second round of voting
Macron’s alliance lost heavily to his main rival RN.
There are many challenges facing France, such as: immigration, racism, religious discrimination, demographic (population getting older), high taxation, high debt, excessive restriction on protest and use of force by police.
Macron called the snap election to French parliament to change the power structure in French politics.
RN, the right-wing populist is predicted to win the snap parliamentary election. Macron wanted to show to the nation that Marine Le Pen’s policy is not possible in practice. When the RN wins the election, Macron would appoint a RN leader to be prime minister. He would have to govern according to right-wing policies. Such policy would be highly unpopular, weakening RN in the vital presidential contest in 2027. Furthermore, he wants to show that the French electorate made a mistake in supporting RN, hoping they will make a better decision, by supporting Macron’s alliance in the presidential election.
France’s government system is semi-presidential. The president is elected every five years for no more than 2 consecutive terms. Parliament is also elected for a 5-year term. The president appoints the prime minister from the majority party in parliament. It is possible to have the president and the prime minister from different parties.
With the American system, the President and congress are elected separately. The presidential is the head of state and head of government. His power is circumscribed by congress.
In the UK, the prime minister is leader of the majority party and ceremonially appointed by the constitutional monarch, the latter has no governing power. Brexit was advocated by Nigel Farage of the UK Independence Party. The Tory prime minister misjudged the situation and called for a referendum. He lost the vote and resigned. But Farage, not being in Parliament, does not have to bear responsibility for the aftermath of Brexit he advocated.
Macron is barred from running for president in 2027, but he hopes his alliance will succeed. He would then retain his influence and run again in 2032. He would then be just 55 years old.
Comments