Editorial - Relief and then what?

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At 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, much of France finally stopped holding its breath. After the third election in a month – the most important for the country – France felt like it could finally breathe freely. The most important thing: Jordan Bardella will not be Prime Minister. The "front républicain" (Republican front) worked, though more or less effectively depending on the constituency and party, but it helped to stem the rise of the Rassemblement National and prevent it from taking the lead.

Congratulations and relief poured in from abroad. Pedro Sánchez in Spain and Lula in Brazil see this failed seizure of power as another step in the renewal of the left, following similar movements in their own countries and the United Kingdom a few days ago. But it’s not that simple. France saved face, but now a burning question arises: who will govern, and how? It will no longer be President Macron, who has been stripped of his 'Jupiterian' reign – or rather, he has returned to the term's astronomical sense: he will be as distant from the day-to-day running of the country as Jupiter is from Earth.

The republican rule is that the President appoints as Prime Minister someone from the movement that won the elections. This is straightforward for traditional parties and alliances, such as the two blocs Ensemble (the former Macronist majority) and RN, but it poses a real challenge for the left-wing bloc that came first. Formed hastily two days after the announcement of the dissolution, the Nouveau Front Populaire (New Popular Front) brings together parties that wisely decided to defer the question of the future Prime Minister until after the elections, so as not to waste valuable energy on such a short campaign. As is often the case, reaching consensus is easier when opposing a particular figure than when supporting one. The scarecrows represented by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the unpredictable founder of France Insoumise, and François Hollande, the former Socialist president who disappointed many, have been set aside.