An (A)typical President?
The 7th of May 2017, 8pm. Emmanuel Macron becomes the youngest President of France. He, who had never held elected office before, defeated populist candidate Marine Le Pen by casting nearly 66 percent of the votes. His victory puts an end to a presidential campaign marked by judicial and hacking scandals along with a tensed ideological atmosphere during the last weeks. What does this election mean? Who is Emmanuel Macron? What can be expected from him?
Macron was born in 1977 into a family of doctors in the city of Amiens in the Somme. After graduating from the highly selective National School of Administration, he entered the most prestigious of France's administrative corps, the Inspectorate General of Finance. He then spent a few years working as an investment banker before being appointed deputy secretary general of the Elysée in charge of economic affairs. In 2014, he is named Minister of Economic Affairs by President Hollande. After he founded the political movement called En Marche! in April 2016, and terminating his involvement with the government, speculations sparked about his own ambitions to run for power. Seven months later, he then announced his intention to run for president.
A new era in French politics ?
The election, marked by the defeat of the ‘establishment‘ parties, is considered as the beginning of a new era of French politics. Macron's vision is to redefine the French political landscape (overcoming Right vs Left). However, despite the fact that defectors from the mainstream Left, Right and Centre joined his movement, his election does not seem sufficient to confirm this reshuffling.
The new President, who is required to lead a party but also to symbolize the unity of the nation, now has to gather the country behind his project. The parliamentary elections coming up in June will determine, whether he will gain the majority needed to implement his program, or whether his mandate will be weakened from the beginning. Even if Macron does not win the majority, he will still be able to govern. According to the French Constitution, neither Parliament nor any other institution can dismiss, impeach or force the President to resign. In this respect, Macron will still be able to lead the country with a sufficient political leeway, even if he does not manage to gain a parliamentary majority. However, the odds seem to be in Macron's favor. The past three parliamentary elections have given majorities in the National Assembly to parties allied to the president and recent opinion polls suggest that Macron's party will secure the largest percentage of votes. In addition, the current voting system does not feature proportional representation, which assumedly makes it harder for the Front National to translate millions of presidential votes into parliamentary seats.
Moreover, Emmanuel Macron‘s wish to renew the French political life was illustrated by the announcement of 428 names to stand for his party in the coming parliamentary elections, which will determine the balance of power in the next five years. 52% of these 214 men and 214 women are civil society figures and 95% are not current MPs. Among them are Eric Halphen, a celebrated anti-corruption judge, or Marion Buchet, a French air force fighter pilot, who served in Syria. As explained by Bruno Cautrès, an expert on French politics, "it is a very important issue, because when Macron talks about renovating French politics, it is not just to make it younger, but also to make it more representative of the diversity of society".
What are the challenges ahead?
The french society is politically fractured. This fracture not only opposes right and left, but also the "ins" and the "outs", the "haves" and the "have-nots". During the last round of the election, a third of the electorate either abstained or spoiled votes. Macron will need to address the voters, who backed Marine Le Pen as well as those who casted blank protesting both candidates. Many of these angry and disappointed voters are from small towns and rural areas that saw industry leaving and consequently people losing jobs and services. Macron understands what needs to be done. He promised to downsize the public sector, free up labor markets, cut public spending by 60 billion euros and reduce corporate tax rates. However, he also declared that he intends to bypass the often lengthy parliamentary process and rush through the reforms by ruling by decree whenever possible. Even if the Parliament needs to ratify a decree, the mere idea of using it could be interpreted as an act of defiance coming from someone, who has never been elected to parliament or elsewhere. This controversial political move could spark a rise of tensions in the French society. After all, it only took the unions 24 hours to protest against Macron after he was elected president.
All in all, and despite Le Pen's defeat, one must not forget that this election marks a historically high vote (hence success) for France's far right. Whatever happens next will mostly depend on Macron's capacity for leadership. If he fails at reshaping France's economy and rejuvenating its culture, Marine Le Pen may have a better shot at becoming president in 2022.
Photo Credit: Lori Shaull
