The elections to the National Assembly in June were the most important event in French domestic politics in the third quarter of the year. The parties supporting Emmanuel Macron failed to win the absolute majority necessary for the stable work of the executive authority. Meanwhile, the creation of a coalition with the opposition forces is unlikely in the short term due to the extreme ideological polarization of the parties.
Political current affairs in France after the elections to the National Assembly
Highlights:
- This overview highlights the key events in French politics in the summer and fall of 2022 that are shaping the state’s agenda and perspectives and will continue to shape them in the near future.
- The elections to the National Assembly in June were the most important event in French domestic politics in the third quarter of the year. The parties supporting Emmanuel Macron failed to win the absolute majority necessary for the stable work of the executive authority. Meanwhile, the creation of a coalition with the opposition forces is unlikely in the short term due to the extreme ideological polarization of the parties.
- The start of Macron’s second term as president and the entry into office of the new government led by Élisabeth Borne in July should be seen in the context of the results of parliamentary election that were unsuccessful for Macron. Macron, who was re-elected for a second presidential term in the April of 2022, does not have the necessary support to his governance program from the National Assembly, so he is forced to adjust his governing ambitions. The president has been given a mandate to govern but the government has limited possibilities to implement his program.
- The approval of the budget and the blueprint of the Macron-backed pension reform will be the decisions that will require the most effort of the executive authority in the near future. A failure could provoke a government crisis and, in a critical situation, even early elections.
- Due to the lack of stable support in the parliament, further para- lysis of the government’s work, growth in public expenditure and increase in social unrest are likely at the end of the year and at the beginning of 2023.
- Macron’s weakness in domestic politics will only have an indirect influence on his activity in foreign policy, where his further initiati- ves in the field of European Union reforms, the issue of support for warring Ukraine and the deepening of cooperation between France and the United States can be expected.
Dr. Gintas Karalius – lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, political scientist; member of Film Indexing Commission at the Lithuanian Film Centre.
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