The Guardian
The Guardian view on political chaos in France: the gift that keeps on giving to Marine Le Pen and the far right | Editorial
Influential abroad, Emmanuel Macron’s strategic errors at home are undermining mainstream French politics at a crucial moment. In Jean-Paul Sartre’s 1944 play No Exit, hell is depicted as a locked room in which characters are condemned to fall out and squabble for all eternity. After foolishly calling a snap election that produced a deadlocked and divided National Assembly, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has found himself trapped in a modern political version of the same plot. On Monday morning, the third prime minister appointed in just over a year became the latest to resign after only 27 days in the job. Hours after unveiling his ministerial team, Sébastien Lecornu stood down following a backlash from centre-right allies, who objected to the number of carryovers from François Bayrou’s previous administration. By Monday evening, Mr Macron had persuaded Mr Lecornu to conduct a round of last-ditch negotiations to try to resolve the crisis. Should he fail, the president has hinted that the next step will be a second dissolution of parliament and fresh legislative elections. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading.
