France: the left and far right topple the government
The government in France has been ousted. The right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN) voted in favour of a motion of no confidence tabled by the left-wing opposition parties, securing a majority of MPs against the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Commentators discuss what comes next for France and President Emmanuel Macron.
A lose-lose situation
None of the parties involved emerges victorious, laments L'Opinion:
“The president has lost: his dissolution of parliament has only accelerated the political disintegration when he had promised a solution that would get the country back on its feet. The prime minister has lost: instead of improving the situation he is trapped in an approach based on dialogue and respect that is obsolete in these times of sad passions. ... The left-wing NFP has lost: La France insoumise has discredited itself with its obsession with chaos. ... The Rassemblement National has lost, having visibly reverted to its role as a populist party of disorder, doublespeak and outright demagoguery.”
The end of Macronism
Macron's political strategy has failed, Corriere della Sera concludes:
“Because the red-brown alliance between the two opposing populisms has won. ... In last June's elections, the president stopped Marine Le Pen's advance thanks to an undeclared but open alliance with the left. But then he launched a government that depended on Marine Le Pen's goodwill. That couldn't last. ... Macron has lost the game. This is the end of Macronism. The idea of clipping the wings and moving to the centre worked for two presidential elections but collapsed in the face of the social crisis and the president's unpopularity.”
A political wasteland
Emmanuel Macron has led France into an impasse, La Tribune de Genève complains:
“The president has no leverage to lead the country out of it, because he has to wait another six long months before he can dissolve the National Assembly again. Until then, any attempts to appoint a new government could prove futile. ... So the only option left is to resign. No doubt with painful consequences. In a country wracked by discord, with a discredited far left and a strongly positioned far right, an early presidential election would be extremely tricky and explosive. But that's what is will take to turn the page on Macronism. Emmanuel Macron wanted to reshape the French political landscape, but in the end he has reduced it to rubble. Now everything must be rebuilt.”
The president will ride out this crisis too
Polityka doesn't believe that the French president will resign:
“The collapse of the Barnier government is a painful political defeat for President Emmanuel Macron, whose resignation has long been demanded by both the left and nationalists. Experience shows, however, that Macron performs quite well under such pressure. So commentators don't expect the president to resign – at least not for the time being (his current term of office runs until 2027).”
Barnier took the bait
The French prime minister has fallen into the RN's trap, Le Monde criticises:
“Barnier did nothing in the past three months to try to build solid bridges with the moderate left. He automatically turned to the right, and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the government's only star, was obsessed with winning back the electorate that had gone over to the RN at the cost of one-upmanship on immigration. In the context of a three-party constellation without a majority this was a particularly dangerous game. And the trap closed on him.”
Never meant to be enduring
Barnier's cabinet was doomed to fail from the outset, Trud comments:
“The DNA of the cabinet put together three months ago by former EU technocrat Barnier was designed from the outset to collapse in the foreseeable future. ... How can a government supported by the far left and the far right last in a country that respects democracy? Opposing pillars are a guarantee of stability in nature, but not in politics, which doesn't need balance but rather a preponderance in order to govern in the interests of the social class that elects the politicians.”