In a rare moment of remorse, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he recognized that his decision to hold early parliamentary elections in June had created more political instability in the country.
The speech portends a tumultuous 2024 for Macron, who surprised the country by calling early elections halfway through the year, a gambit that backfired when voters overwhelmingly voted for far-right lawmakers. Gave a hung parliament, weakening Macron’s power.
“Clarity and humility force [me] To admit that at this stage, this decision has created more instability than peace, and I accept that completely,” Macron said in a televised address ahead of New Year’s celebrations.
He bluntly stated after the elections, “Dissolution created more division in the Assembly than it created solutions for the French people.”
Macron had justified his decision to call early elections in view of the poor scores in the European elections as the need to “clarify” the political situation.
But they lost their practical majority and took two months to form a minority government, which ultimately fell in December, the first time that had happened in France since 1962.
As a result, France failed to approve a budget for 2025 before the year-end deadline, and Macron had to name centrist veteran Francois Bayrou his fourth prime minister in December this year.
have to choose
Macron also opened the door to using a referendum this year without using the term, saying he would ask the French to decide on “decisive” issues, without specifying which issues.
He said, “I want us to work with 2050 in mind. We will have choices for our economy, our democracy, our security, our children.”
The French Constitution grants the President the power to initiate a referendum.
Macron has also used “citizens’ congresses” – assemblies of randomly selected citizens with no binding power – to quell rebellions such as the Yellow Vest rebellion in the past over some issues.
On international issues, in which he retains broad diplomatic and military powers, Macron said the EU should stop being “naive” when it comes to international trade, as the bloc faces threats of tariffs by US President-elect Donald Trump. Faces dangers.
“We must say no to business rules made by others and that we are the only ones who still have to follow. Say no to everything that makes us more dependent on others without trade-offs and without preparation [for] The future,” he said.
He also cited the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and election manipulation in Georgia, Romania and Moldova as evidence that Europe should not take its security for granted.
“Europe must therefore stop ceding its security and defense to other powers,” he said, urging EU partners, who often rely on the US security umbrella, to do more to protect themselves. Did.