The coalition he has begun to talk about will only be forged by making major political concessions
Can Emmanuel Macron rule France with as much ease as his 58% victory over far-right challenger Marine Le Pen suggests? The French president won his re-election on Sunday by a larger margin than polls estimated just two weeks ago. But he now faces different challenges than he did in 2017, when he was the up-and-coming under-40 political rookie eager to transform France.
It’s been easy to forget some basics during a campaign overshadowed by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Macron was able to present himself, in particular, with a strong economic record. France grew last year at a faster rate than the rest of the main economies of the European Union – which had not happened in decades – and will have one of the lowest inflation rates in 2022. And as promised, Macron was able to drastically reduce unemployment. So much so that pollsters no longer mention it as a top voter concern.
But France is now a more difficult country to govern. The implementation of Macron’s program, which includes massive investments in the ecological transition and increased spending on social services and education, will require a majority in Parliament. The party he created six years ago may not make it in the elections to be held in June. And the coalition he has started talking about will only be forged by making big political concessions.
Macron’s life will be all the more difficult as France is more fractious and more divided than the country that elected him president in 2017. Nearly 60% of French voters chose a radical candidate, either left or right, in the first round of the presidential elections two weeks ago. And Macron’s lead in the second round, while comfortable, was less than the 66% he received against the same opponent last time.
Macron has not forgotten that at the beginning of his first term he had to face the revolt of the yellow vests, months of violent weekend protests and social unrest triggered by a simple rise in the price of diesel. And he is well aware that many of the left-wing voters who voted for him on Sunday are opposed to him and his program. They simply find Le Pen abhorrent. That clearly marks the limits of his room for maneuver.
