Emmanuel Macron’s advisers have the episode in mind: after the attacks of November 2015, François Hollande, pushed in particular by his Prime Minister at the time, Manuel Valls, had considered reversing the table by forming a government of national union. Personalities from the other side, like Jean-Pierre Raffarin, had been approached. Without continuation. Comparison is not right. The urban riots of the past few days, however, have changed the political landscape. Since, since his re-election, Emmanuel Macron has continued to seek a solution to make people forget his relative majority, does the opportunity for a political initiative present itself today? During his last speech, on April 17, he still mentioned “new coalitions and alliances”, but we know that with him, sometimes, there are words on one side, reality on the other.
In recent days, the Elysée believed to notice an enlargement of the central space. The rebellious have lost themselves to the point, in the words of Elisabeth Borne, of not being “in the republican field”. Suddenly, the rest of the left struggled to conceal its embarrassment. There are even voices – that of an important socialist mayor, for example – to consider that the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, had been “exemplary”: “He did the job that had to be done and fortunately that he was there.”
On the other side, while Marine Le Pen cultivates her splendid isolation, LR has rather lined up, it must be emphasized, behind the executive. On Wednesday July 5, Bruno Retailleau publicly declared that no other government would have acted better. The remark did not go unnoticed around Emmanuel Macron, but another reality is catching up with the Elysée. “It’s very difficult to work with the LRs”, modestly advances an adviser to the head of state. The retirement episode has left its mark.
“Everything that is not gamy, we have already taken it”
Can we at least imagine consolidating a “working majority” if not forming a government of national unity? The idea is to push back any risk of overthrowing the government in the National Assembly. “The motion of censure, that, we do not know how to do”, admits a Macronist pillar. We must therefore find the means to hold out until the European elections, since a very different phase of the mandate will then begin.
But pushing the walls remains a challenge. The persistence of the right-left divide, in the analysis as in the solutions, struck those present at the meeting of mayors around the Head of State, Tuesday, July 4. And as the confusion of feelings is at its maximum, the benevolence came from Robert Ménard, support of Marine Le Pen in 2022, that is to say. “The one who will have to do the synthesis, and it will not be easy, is you, Mr. President!” launched the mayor of Béziers.
We start with dreams of national unity, we end with personal poaching: the story is well known. But even that is increasingly difficult. A historical macronist recognizes this bluntly: “Everything that is not gamed, we have already taken it. We have inspected previous governments from top to bottom.”