Macron and the challenges he must overcome to govern smoothly for the next 5 years

Emmanuel Macron he won the elections and will stay for five more years in the Elysée Palace. But the cost he paid seems to have been very high: Marine LePenhis opponent, achieved “the best result of the extreme right in a presidential election”, a symptom that something in the government French is not working.

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Not a day passed and there were already protests against him. On the night of Sunday the 24th and in reaction to the announcement of Macron’s victory, hundreds gathered in the Republic of Paris. They chanted: “Here we are, even if Macron doesn’t want it. We are here, for the honor of the workers and for a better world”.

The Europa Press agency reported that, to repel the protesters, the police used “tear gas and stun grenades”.

March against the victory of Emmanuel Macron, in Paris. EFE (Mohammed Badra /)

In Rennes there was also a march, only containers were burned there and there were fights against the forces of order.

“The movement of the Yellow Vests has called several demonstrations over the last week under the slogan ‘anything but Macron’”Europa Press notes.

In response, Macron promised to meet the demands of those who voted for Le Pen, most of whom were angry with him for having supported the upper class and not the citizens who needed him most. “From now on, I am no longer the candidate of one field, but the president of all“, said.

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The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has been in power since 2017. With this re-election he will stay until 2027. EFE (Christophe Petit Tesson/)

The challenges until 2027

Macron’s problems are directly related to his way of governing. “The perception is that of an arrogant person who does not want to negotiate. Why? Because he had an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly”, explains the international analyst Francesco Tucci.

According to the AFP agency, surveys show that “more than half of the French want Macron to lose his majority”, being the period 1997-2002 the last time this happened. At that moment, Jacques Chirac named the socialist Lionel Joseph as his prime minister.

Tucci notes: “That is, the president of one color and the prime minister of another”.

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“This data shows that the French did not want Le Pen to win because he is very far to the right, but that they are not comfortable with Macron either and that is why they want to limit him”.

“You will remember how the French opposed some of the president’s measures and filled the streets. The Yellow Vests protested every weekend for the change in the pension system, the increase in the cost of fuel, measures that Macron imposed without dialogue”.

Cover of a magazine with the face of Macron. AP (Michel Euler/)

The situation was complicated by coronavirus pandemic and the war between russia and ukrainewidening the gap between the millionaires and the most needy.

Crises, in turn, generate disenchantment in the electorate. AFP points out that the “28% of the almost 49 million French called to the polls abstained, 2.5 points more than in 2017, when there was already a duel between Macron and Le Pen, and a record since the 1969 presidential ballot (31 %)”.

“Another three million voters voted blank or null for their part. If you add the abstentionists, ‘more than a third of the electorate decided not to elect’”.

Tucci explains that this is due to a “strong detachment from traditional politics because it is not solving the most serious problems for the French”. And that if they did not vote for Le Pen it is because, finally, the French flee from those extremes.

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Second-rate French?

Another challenge pending Macron is to deal with overseas territories Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Réunion and Mayotte. “If you visit them, you will realize that they are treated like second-rate French. There is a big difference between metropolitan France and these places, where everything is lacking, but they pay taxes just like Parisians”.

At these latitudes, Marine LePen razed.

“The speech of Le Pen resonated because Macron he forgot about them in his first five years. In fact, that is one of the reasons why she is identified with the establishment. Macron is no longer as attractive as before”.

So what’s next for Macron?

Tucci says that everything will depend on the National Assembly elections, which will take place on June 12 and 19 this year.. The specialist says that if Macron wins the majority, it will mean that the French trusted him again.

“But if he doesn’t get it, it’s because the electorate punishes him. In this scenario, that of cohabitation, Macron will be left lame. He will have to appoint a prime minister of another color and he will not be able to govern as before, but he will have to negotiate”.

“That is why Macron must bet everything on the electoral campaign of his party’s candidates. He must regain confidence and convey the image of a ruler who is not arrogant. Much is at stake these months”.

Source: Elcomercio