Emmanuel Macron rules out resigning. But without a government coalition, his departure from the Elysée could be the only way out in the face of an institutional deadlock.
Already advanced before the legislative elections, the little tune about Emmanuel Macron’s resignation still resonates in people’s heads. However, the President of the Republic takes care to silence the voices going in this direction as soon as he has the opportunity. “The French have entrusted me with a mandate […] and I will assume it in its entirety,” he assured on Tuesday, July 23, during his interview on France 2. Although the head of state acknowledged having lost the legislative elections, he believes that this defeat does not imply his departure from the Elysée, especially since according to him “no one has won” since no camp has a majority in the National Assembly.
But this lack of an absolute majority risks making the National Assembly ungovernable and, by extension, weighing on Emmanuel Macron’s continued leadership of the country. The President of the Republic is banking on the formation of a grand coalition to obtain a majority in the chamber and rule out the possibility of a definitive resignation. He also has a very precise idea of this alliance: it must bring together the right wing of the Les Républicains party, which has become the Droite républicaine, and the socialists, environmentalists and communists.
This coalition is, according to him, the only option to avoid an institutional deadlock, regardless of the person in power. But Emmanuel Macron may well call for a coalition, rule out all other scenarios and give the political camps time to negotiate, but the said alliance is not taking shape. He seems to hope that the situation will settle down by mid-August since he has warned that no government will be appointed before that date. If nothing changes by then, will Emmanuel Macron’s resignation be inevitable?
Emmanuel Macron forced to resign without coalition?
The head of state said it in a letter addressed to the French people on July 10 and repeated it in an interview on July 23: he will only appoint a government supported by a majority coalition in the National Assembly. But no coalition ranging from the social-democratic left to the republican right is in sight. Only a rapprochement between the presidential camp and the right has been observed in the National Assembly. Emmanuel Macron has also slipped on France 2 that the “legislative pact” proposed by Laurent Wauquiez “is going in the right direction” and has pushed all political forces to “do the same”. However, the right remains reluctant to form a government coalition and says it wants to stick to a parliamentary pact.
As for the left, the parties of the New Popular Front (NFP) divided on many issues are unanimous when it comes to refusing a coalition with Macronie. An alliance between the NFP and the presidential camp is “impossible due to deep disagreements” assured Lucie Castest, candidate of the left at Matignon, on France Inter July 24.
The coalition wanted by Emmanuel Macron is still far away and even hypothetical. The presidential camp will continue negotiations during the summer with the objective of being able to strike a deal with the political forces that it considers to be in the “republican arc” to form a government, but without this it will be difficult for the head of state to stake his positions and refuse any other government. Calls for resignation could then multiply and what solution? Emmanuel Macron would he have to not give in to it?
Macron’s resignation avoidable with a technical government?
Without a majority coalition, Emmanuel Macron would have no choice but to comply with the logic that the Prime Minister, who proposes a government, comes from the political force most represented in the Assembly, that is to say the New Popular Front. Which wishes to form a left-wing government, against the will of the Head of State. The other solution would be to appoint a so-called technical government, rather politically neutral, to form majorities text by text.
Such a government would a priori have a reduced lifespan, with the political forces refusing to support a purely technical executive, unrelated to the balance of power within the National Assembly. The parties could support a motion of censure and overthrow a possible technical government at any time. Emmanuel Macron would then find himself in an impasse without a coalition and without a technical government; his resignation could once again become the last way out of the institutional deadlock.
Can Emmanuel Macron resign?
Although he has repeatedly rejected the idea of resigning, Emmanuel Macron could very well leave the Elysée Palace before May 2027, the date his term ends. This is also what Pierre Mazeaud, former president of the Constitutional Council, is prioritizing. “To stop these serious difficulties in the country, I am one of those who believe that the President of the Republic must resign,” declared the former mayor, deputy and RPR Secretary of State, a figure in political life in the 1970s and 1990s.
Alain Duhamel, columnist on BFM TV and expert on political life, “does not exclude[t] not completely” this possibility. “If there is not a heterogeneous majority capable of supporting a transitional government responsible for handling current affairs for a year, I do not see any other outcome than the resignation of Emmanuel Macron,” he confided to The mountain.
In the event of his resignation, Emmanuel Macron would not be the first head of state to leave office during his term. He would be… the second, after Charles de Gaulle. In 1969, the tenant of the Elysée called the French to the polls for a referendum on a reform of the Senate and the powers of the regions. The “no” vote won on this project supported by the General. The latter then decided to step down and resigned 10 years after coming to power. Since then, except for the death of Georges Pompidou during his term, all other presidents have completed their term.
Can Macron resign to run for president?
But what if Emmanuel Macron was considering resigning to be able to run again in 2027? This is what several Internet users suspect on social networks, but this hypothesis is not credible. A resignation would not allow the head of state to be elected a third time because Article 6 of the Constitution limits the number of consecutive terms possible at the head of state to two: “The President of the Republic is elected for five years by direct universal suffrage. No one may serve more than two consecutive terms”. A resignation does not change the fact that Emmanuel has already served two terms, even if the second is not complete. On the contrary, resigning after the legislative elections would deprive the head of state of his last three years as president before a possible new candidacy in 2032.