Macron defiant in face of threat from rivals

Don’t put all the power in president’s hands, Right warns, as he seeks majority in parliamentary elections

EMMANUEL MACRON will be no lame duck in his second term, his camp said yesterday, as leaders of the hard-right and Left plotted to block the re-elected French president from securing a majority in the parliamentary elections.

The 44-year-old centrist faces a fierce battle to push through reforms to reboot the French economy and counter rising living costs.

After all the votes were counted, Mr Macron received 58.54 per cent of the votes compared with 41.5 per cent for Marine Le Pen, his challenger.

But with the Right securing a record share and tactical voting and abstention high, Le Figaro wrote: “In truth, the marble statue is a Colossus with feet of clay. Emmanuel Macron knows this well ... he will not benefit from any grace period.”

Mr Macron admitted in his victory speech on Sunday night that many of his 18.8 million voters only supported him to keep Ms Le Pen out of the Elysée, telling them “I owe you” and vowing to tackle “doubts and divisions”.

One of Mr Macron’s main challenges will be naming what is expected to be a new government, with Jean Castex, the prime minister, expected to resign next week. The president has said he would like the next premier, who will also hold the brief for “environmental planning”, to be a woman.

Elisabeth Borne, his experienced and loyal labour minister, is widely tipped as the frontrunner.

But if his La République En Marche party is not the biggest after two rounds of parliamentary elections in June, Mr Macron may have to form a coalition or name a prime minister from another party in a power-sharing agreement.

In that case, the French president would remain the head of the armed forces and keep some sway over foreign policy but the government would call most of the shots on day-to-day matters of state and policy, effectively neutering his power over domestic affairs.

Gabriel Attal, Mr Macron’s spokesman, said he would not be a lame duck. “I am convinced that the French will give Emmanuel Macron the means to act to protect them,” he said.

Failure to get a majority could frustrate Mr Macron’s reformist programme, which includes pension reforms to raise the retirement age from 62 to 65 by 2031.

But Bruno Le Maire, Mr Macron’s outgoing finance minister said he could not “guarantee” not pushing the reform through parliament without debate in case of major obstruction, sparking howls of opposition disapproval.

Environmental policies to boost French nuclear power and make France the first major country to stop using oil and gas and the war in Ukraine are other priorities.

Vladimir Putin congratulated Mr Macron yesterday, wishing him “good health”, a day after Mr Macron and Volodymr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, spoke on the telephone.

Since France aligned its presidential and parliamentary terms in 2002, voters have consistently handed a majority to the elected president.

However, some polls suggest twothirds of French voters, who have abandoned the centre-left and centre-right parties in their millions, don’t want the president to win a majority.

In June, many of those voting for Mr Macron are expected to return to their preferred candidates, including Jeanluc Mélenchon, the far-left leader, who came a strong third in the first round of the election.

Some 42 per cent of Mr Mélenchon supporters, who number about seven million, lent their vote to Mr Macron but are now expected to back the Corbyn-style firebrand, who wants to be the prime minister.

Mr Macron’s victory over Ms Le Pen, who scored the best ever result for the Right in a presidential election, was narrower than in 2017.

Claiming a “brilliant victory” after her defeat, the 53-year old said she had no plans to step down and would lead the fight in legislative elections.

“Don’t put all the power in Emmanuel Macron’s hands,” said interim party leader Jordan Bardella yesterday.

A Harris poll published last night suggested that if no parties forged alliances, Mr Macron’s LREM is expected to win 328-368 out of 577 seats. National Rally would be in second place on 75-105 seats and France’s embattled Republicans Party could garner 35-65.