France is tiring of Emmanuel Macron Article by The Spectator

The British magazine The Spectator has released an article by Gavin Mortimer addressing the political turmoil in France, claiming that a shift in presidential leadership is essential to avert total collapse. We present this analysis for the consideration of Caliber.Az readers.

France can’t go on like this. The country, and its overseas territories, are in chaos. On September 18 night two men in New Caledonia were shot dead by security forces after a confrontation on the Pacific Island. The insurgency began in May and shows no sign of abating with the rebels determined to gain their independence from France. In total, thirteen people have been killed and the damage caused in the uprising is estimated to be €2.2 billion ($2.45 billion) and rising. 

Meanwhile, the Caribbean island of Martinique was placed under curfew on Wednesday after rioting erupted over rising prices. Eleven police officers have been injured in the violence and this week a McDonald’s restaurant was set ablaze.

In mainland France, a police officer had what eyewitnesses described as a “miraculous” escape on Wednesday when he was struck by a car that refused to stop at a checkpoint. The driver of the car — which was found to contain a large quantity of drugs — fled but he was later apprehended. He was well known to police having a string of previous convictions.

There is a growing sense among the public in France that the courts have given up punishing violent criminals. In the last three weeks, a gendarme and a council worker have lost their lives at the hands of men who were at liberty despite a litany of lawbreaking.

The right in France blames Nicole Belloubet, Macron’s justice minister from 2017 to 2020, who at the height of the Covid crisis in 2020 released several thousand prisoners. She also put pressure on the courts to refrain from handing out short sentences because of the overcrowding in prisons

Macron came to power in 2017 promising to create 15,000 more places in prisons. This promise wasn’t kept, and only a strike by prison staff in 2018 finally resulted in 7,000 more places.

Macron is the common denominator in the chaos ravaging France. He has presided over the steady disintegration of the country and its overseas territories, economically and socially.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise has initiated impeachment proceedings against Macron; on Tuesday, the National Assembly’s committee agreed that the motion could be examined by parliament’s Law Committee before being put to the vote by MPs. Impeachment proceedings have never gone this far in the history of the Fifth Republic. It is unlikely that a majority of the Assembly’s 577 MPs would vote in favour but nonetheless, it underlines the unprecedented unpopularity of Macron.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Marine Le Pen last week described Macron as “the embodiment of disorder” and the left as the “embodiment of chaos.”

She also forecast a brief life for the government of Michel Barnier, which the left has sworn to bring down as soon as it can. Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, the biggest single party in parliament, is less hostile but barely supportive of a prime minister who is expected to reveal his government this weekend. “I don’t think it can last,” Le Pen said of Barnier’s premiership. “Our great country, France, can’t function like this.”

There are reports in the French media that Barnier is reaching the end of his tether with Macron; rumours abounded on September 18 evening that the seventy-three-year-old, who embarked on a political career years before Macron was born, was considering his future. According to Le Figaro, discussions between the pair on the composition of the government have been “brutally tense.” Barnier wants to govern more to the right, Macron is insistent any government of his should stay firmly to the left of the centre. 

Barnier is also reported to be shocked by the mismanagement he has unearthed since taking office two weeks ago. He described the country’s financial situation as “very serious” but it’s claimed Macron loyalists are being uncooperative in helping Barnier assess the extent of the ruin.

One of Macron’s aides told Le Figaro: “The president always reminds the prime minister of the same thing: the government must get as close as possible to national unity and respect the balance. For the rest, he’s in charge.”

But as long as Macron remains in charge, France will continue its inexorable disintegration. Macron has damaged the country on the global stage since he came to power. The Republic has been repeatedly humiliated in Africa, where its influence has all but evaporated, and Macron’s goading of Vladimir Putin earlier this year embarrassed and alarmed France’s allies.

Many commentators and politicians, including Le Pen, have stated that the only way out of the dead end into which Macron led the country by calling a snap election is his resignation. He has dismissed the idea, but it is increasingly hard to see how France can move forward as long as he is in the Élysée.

There are reports this morning that Bernard Cazeneueve, the last Socialist minister of Francois Hollande’s government, is being groomed as Barnier’s successor. What difference will that make?