Is France on the verge of civil war? President Emmanuel Macron is claiming nothing less than this, just a week before the first round of parliamentary elections. Both the Rassemblement National (RN) and the left-wing party La France insoumise (LFI) would lead to chaos, Macron said on Monday in the podcast “Generation Do It Yourself”. He warned against the “political programs of the two extremes”.
On the one hand, the RN divides society on security issues by referring people to either a religion or an origin. On the other hand, La France insoumise propagates a “form of communitarianism”. Both lead “to civil war,” said Macron.
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Macron faces criticism from his own camp
The head of state’s comments were criticized from both the left and the right. The outgoing RN MP Edwige Diaz criticized “irresponsible statements”: “Emmanuel Macron is ready to say any nonsense, to spread fake news, to try to save what he can from his camp. His comments show how nervous he is and that he is losing his footing.”
Jean-Luc Mélenchon of La France insoumise accused Macron of “always being there to stir up trouble”. Communist Ian Brossat accused the president of being the one who has been causing chaos in the country for seven years: “I recall that the yellow vests emerged during the first five years of Emmanuel Macron’s term in office. Today we have a country that is on its knees, with inequalities that have increased. This is the result of Emmanuel Macron’s policies.”
And Macron is even facing criticism from within his own camp. “It is unbearable,” said a former Macron minister, who wished to remain anonymous, to the press. “I no longer understand him.” A departing member of the governing party also complained: “Macron is exaggerating, we are losing our political compass.”
Security expert: “Everything is possible in France”
Things look quite different the well-known security expert Alain BauerHe told RMC on Tuesday that there was “a real risk of civil war”. There was an enormous amount of anger building up in France, which had been exacerbated over the past 30 years by “the rift between the people and the politicians”.
In two weeks, exactly one year after the unrest following the death of the young Nahel, violent clashes are to be feared again – especially if the RN wins the elections. “France has been experiencing unrest for a thousand years. But at the moment it is intensifying, there are more and more TikTok riots. They start very quickly and stop quickly. You go from rebelling to looting and then move on,” said Bauer. “For a few years now, it has become clear to me that anything is possible in France.”
But Bauer blames Macron himself for the chaos: “For the first time, I’ve seen an arsonist who is surprised that there is a fire,” he says of the president. He has already provoked a civil war in New Caledonia.
In response to the crushing defeat of the Renaissance party in the European elections, Macron dissolved the National Assembly and announced new elections for the French parliamentary chamber in two rounds for June 30 and July 7. In the latest polls, the RN is in the lead with 35 percent, followed by the left-green electoral alliance New Popular Front with just under 30 percent. The government camp is lagging behind at around 18 percent.