The ups and downs of French politics are no longer a laughing matter. Without an elected government for nearly two months, the country is waiting for its president to put an end to his perilous shenanigans.
On Wednesday, France passed its 52nd day without a government, a record not even reached by the Fourth Republic (1946–58), which was renowned for its instability. Above all, it is an anomaly for the Fifth Republic, which was designed precisely to avoid a revolving door of governments at the whim of the parties represented in the National Assembly. In the spirit of the Fifth Republic, two blocs oppose each other, and the one that wins the most votes wins an absolute majority in Parliament and governs for five years. Gone is the proportional representation system, which is considered responsible for the fragmentation of the National Assembly and is suspected of giving an undue presence and platform to the extremes. And yet in 2024 France finds itself with a fractured Assembly, with no conceivable coalition, and with the largest party in terms of votes, the Rassemblement National, on the far right. Bingo.
The Fifth Republic – through the efforts of General de Gaulle – prided itself above all on providing a reassuring figure, far removed from the political fray, in the person of the President of the Republic. But in this case, under the guise of guaranteeing the stability of the regime, it is this same President who is weakening it by over-interpreting his own prerogatives. The Constitution assigns him the task of appointing as Prime Minister the figurehead of the movement that won the legislative elections. This is a choice he has to make. Instead, he twists the arm of the Constitution to tell it that it is up to him to appoint a Prime Minister of his choice who is not immediately swept aside by a motion of no confidence in the National Assembly. In this way, he is taking on the strange role of trainer, different from the one we know in Luxembourg and Belgium, and above all incongruous for a sitting President. Once again, he is in the position of a boss who chooses his subordinates, with a preference for a personality who is out of step with the political game, such as Jean Castex or Elisabeth Borne, who is a priori more malleable and less charismatic than his master.
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