Breaking his silence three days after the second round of early legislative elections, the President of the Republic addressed the French people on Wednesday in a letter published by the regional daily press. Emmanuel Macron assures that not only “no one won” on Sunday, according to him, but that it is also necessary to “invent a new political culture” in the face of the unprecedented coexistence of three blocs in the hemicycle: the New Popular Front, the Macronist bloc and the National Rally.
The head of state, traveling to Washington for a NATO summit, thus asks “all political forces that recognize themselves in republican institutions, the rule of law, parliamentarianism, a European orientation and the defense of French independence, to engage in a sincere and loyal dialogue to build a solid, necessarily plural, majority for the country.”
All these negotiations will take “a little time”
Emmanuel Macron hopes to see the formation of “a pragmatic and readable project” and urges the parties to “realize through actions” the republican front that has made it possible to counter the RN, which came third on Sunday evening with 143 deputies including its allies. But all these negotiations will take “a little time”, a period at the end of which Emmanuel Macron “will decide on the appointment of the Prime Minister”.
However, “in twenty minutes, (Emmanuel Macron) drew conclusions from the European elections by saying that he was going to dissolve,” a minister had quipped the day before, quoted by AFP. “He has to speak, otherwise the left will propose a reasonable name for Matignon and will trap us,” worried another deputy from the presidential party Renaissance. “When he has to shut his mouth, he speaks, and when he has to speak, he keeps quiet,” said the second Tuesday morning during the meeting of the presidential group, according to a participant.
Should Emmanuel Macron have spoken earlier? “He will choose the right moment,” replied Edouard Philippe on Tuesday. “I am not going to tell him when to speak. In general, when I give him advice, he does the opposite. I will have the humility not to put myself in his shoes,” added the president of the Horizons party, a member of the outgoing presidential coalition.
“He must bow”
This decisive speech comes at a time when the presidential camp is multiplying in the National Assembly to secure a majority. Sacha Houlié, a long-time marcher and former president of the law commission, has also announced that he will not “sit” in the Renaissance group, preferring to try to create a group “that goes from the social right to the socialist left.”
Shortly after the publication of this letter, Jean-Luc Mélenchon castigated Emmanuel Macron who, according to him, “refuses to recognize the result of the ballot boxes which placed the New Popular Front in the lead” and “claims to give time to form another coalition by swindling after the elections”. “He must bow,” the rebellious leader again urged.