The world watches with concern as the wave of violent protests floods France. The French are known internationally for expressing their anger in the streets, but even the most critical of the phenomenon acknowledge the great importance of current events. Aside from the overall unfairness of the contentious pension reform, other dire consequences are looming over the country. In other words, France is on the brink of a constitutional crisis and impending collapse of trust in public institutions.
President Emmanuel Macron is determined to ram through the controversial bill at all costs. The government invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to bypass a high-risk vote in the National Assembly. The fundamental law of the constitution, often referred to as the nuclear legislative option, adopted by the Fifth French Republic is intended only for exceptional situations. However, since the formation of the government in the summer of 2022, Elisabeth Borne has used Article 49.3 eleven times, placing her second in the history of the Fifth Republic after undisputed champion Prime Minister Michel Rocard, who invoked it twenty-eight times between 1988 and 1991.
Still, compared to predecessors, the situation is alarming. Especially for the reelected government, eleven emergencies over ten months requiring special measures, such as Article 49.3, seem to be unlawful excess. Thus, the legitimacy of Elisabeth Borne’s government to exercise power has come into question. Yet, this time the opposition isn’t alone in its disapproval, joined by the nation rallying in the streets to protest against the so-called denial of democracy.
Macron’s visible intention to avoid the public debate infuriated the French and sparked nationwide outrage. The attempts to justify his actions are deemed insincere for going against declarations to seek compromise. Macron’s TV interview, supposed to break the silence and address the issue, was aired on Wednesday during working hours and thus inaccessible to those most concerned by the reform. Even though it is impossible to determine whether it was deliberate, a large part of the public perceived it as such. Even worse, the tone of the president’s speech felt condescending to many causing the excerpts from the interview to become massively ridiculed on social media.
Perhaps Macron could expect a better turn of events were it not for the fact that trust in his government has been gradually decreasing. During the victory rally after the presidential election last year, Macron acknowledged voters who cast their ballots not for his program but against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen. The reelected candidate also vowed to be the president of all French people and recognize equally those who endorsed his opponent. Critics of the pension reform recall those words in response to the president’s defense that the new law was, after all, foreseen in his program.
Such rhetoric does not ease tensions, further exacerbated by other recent scandals related to the government. For example, the Secretary of State, Marlène Schiappa, is accused of embezzling taxpayer money to remunerate structures of the Marianne fund aimed at fighting extremism after the brutal murder of Samuel Paty in 2020. Macron’s government also lost a lot of public trust during the pandemic, when it was promised not to introduce certain restrictions regarding curfews or vaccines, which finally had to be implemented. In addition, sums spent on private consultants hired in connection with the crisis, such as McKinsey, exceeded one billion euros causing a widespread outcry. Moreover, despite numerous declarations about fighting tax evasion, the government has generally not done much in this regard, and the reasons remain unknown.
President Macron also does not have an impeccable reputation and is often called the president of the rich. The alleged conflict of interest, according to which he uses his political position to serve the interests of the wealthy, has been repeatedly called into question by public opinion. Formerly an investment banker for the prestigious Rothschild Bank, Macron served as the minister of economy under President François Hollande from 2014 to 2016. Recent leaks revealed that he helped the American company Uber lobby against the country’s closed-shop taxi industry while in office. As the newly elected president after the landslide victory in 2017, Macron signed unpopular laws facilitating hiring and firing employees, against which the left strongly protested. Rubbing salt into the wound as protests against the pension reform continued, President Macron held a discreet ceremony at the Elysée Palace to give the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration in France. Although the event has been delayed for ten years since Bezos was designated a member of the Legion of Honor, public opinion asked about his merits for the country. In April 2020, Amazon France was sued by the French unions for failing to provide protective measures against COVID and forced by the court to close most of its operations after losing an appeal and maintaining a staunch dissenting opinion on health standards.
Without a doubt, there are plenty of reasons to criticize President Macron and his cabinet. But our memory is short-lived, and those holding power are always under the harshest scrutiny, making it easy to believe they are the worst possible option. Therefore, it is crucial to ask what are the alternatives. Centrist Macron and his party Renaissance have two opponents, Jean-Luc Mélenchon leading the left-wing alliance New Ecological and Social People’s Union (Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale – NUPES) and Marine Le Pen at the helm of the far-right party National Rally (Rassemblement National). Both parties are straining to take political advantage of the current turmoil by undermining the incumbent president and posing as tribunes.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who finished the presidential race with the third-highest score, is a left-wing veteran of the French political scene with enormous perseverance to win. The politician has successfully won the sympathy of young people who even blocked schools last year as a protest against the runoff between Macron and Le Pen, a dangerous call to overturn the results of the fairly conducted first round. Neither praising nor condemning the actions of predominantly left-wing voters, Mélenchon asserted mobilization to take power in the parliamentary elections. Having been unable to attain the goal, Mélenchon sees the ongoing protests as an opportunity to establish himself as the voice of ordinary citizens and workers.
Still, far-right Marine Le Pen equally tries to seize the occasion, racing with the left-wing leader to convince future voters by active involvement in the matter that unified the whole country. At first glance, progressive Mélenchon and anti-immigration Le Pen are at opposite poles, but they similarly strive for power and hold Eurosceptic views. Although the far-right politician does not enjoy the sympathy and support of the youth, Le Pen stays close to authoritarian populists like Orban, Salvini, or Kaczyński. Especially suspicious were her close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and loans taken from a Russian bank, both considered a threat to the stability of the EU by many experts. While it is impossible to assess to what extent Marine Le Pen wanted to bond with the Russian regime, President Putin has a reputation for murky friendships with right-wing populists supporting the political interests of Russia, namely the destabilization of democratic Europe. Given the shady connections to the Russian regime and the anti-immigrant, populist views of the National Rally, a potential victory of the right-wing party in the future is something to be feared.
France found itself in a crisis. If confidence in the pro-European Renaissance Party continues to decline, it might fall out of the presidential race in the next election. In case of a potential clash between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen, the latter would undoubtedly win. Unfortunately, the French left has become too radicalized and moved away from the problems of the general public to beat the nationalist far-right that achieved the highest result since the Second World War last year. In other words, the lack of a strong centrist candidate creates a risk of populists taking power over the country. Emmanuel Macron can no longer run for office, but taking the blow for controversial pension reform could be a strategy to pave the way for his successor. According to experts, former prime minister Édouard Philippe has the best prospects to take after the incumbent president. Now everything depends on whether the centrist party will put effort into rebuilding the broken trust or neglect it, burying its chances of winning in future elections. Will it be enough to avert the far-right from rising to power? Only time will tell, but the stakes are high.
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