POLITICO: Former Macron adviser says president leaves France in worse state

The POLITICO website has published a critical assessment of French President Emmanuel Macron, highlighting sharp criticisms from one of his earliest supporters, Alain Minc. Caliber.Az brings this report to the attention of its readers.

Alain Minc, once a strong advocate of Macron, had previously compared the president to Napoleon’s generals, praising him as “an extraordinary being blessed both with talent and luck.”

However, eight years later, Minc, Macron’s former mentor and influential political adviser, now calls him the “worst” president since the founding of France’s Fifth Republic in 1958. He claims that Macron’s narcissism has driven reckless decisions that “imperilled French institutions” and strengthened the far right ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

“Macron is leaving the country in a much worse state than when he took the reins of power,” Minc said in an interview with POLITICO. “He will leave a political landscape that is perhaps permanently unstable in France. It’s unforgivable.”

Minc, a 76-year-old businessman who has advised multiple French presidents since François Mitterrand in the 1980s, was one of Macron’s earliest backers. He advised Macron prior to his 2017 election victory and during his first term, which Minc described as “not too bad.”

Their relationship, however, gradually deteriorated as Macron made what Minc considers a series of missteps and surrounded himself with “an incredibly mediocre team.” The two ceased communications shortly after Macron called for an ill-advised snap election last year. Today, Minc is particularly scathing about former Macron allies who have become critics.

Minc’s criticisms are more personal than those of former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe, who recently spoke out against Macron amid France’s political crisis. Minc attributes Macron’s errors since his 2022 reelection to narcissism, arguing that the president believes he is uniquely capable of solving any problem.

“Macron is in denial of reality … He is crushed by his own psychology,” Minc said.

Other observers have likened Macron to an inveterate gambler, always convinced he can turn the odds in his favour despite repeated setbacks.

“He thinks as usual that he is the only one who will conjure up a magic trick to find a way out of the difficulties,” Minc added.

Minc argues that Macron fails to recognise that he himself is “the problem,” and that resolving France’s political turmoil requires stepping back from domestic politics and focusing on international affairs. Macron has indeed prioritised foreign policy after losing his parliamentary majority last year, but his reluctance to relinquish control over domestic matters was evident when he reappointed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu just days after Lecornu had submitted his resignation.

French public opinion appears to mirror Minc’s dissatisfaction, even if voters do not entirely share his assessment of Macron. A recent poll found that Macron tied with former President François Hollande as the least popular French president in the past 50 years, following the political crisis triggered by Lecornu’s resignation.

Macron, who once commanded comparisons to Louis XIV, fundamentally reshaped French politics with his centrist movement that disrupted the traditional two-party system. However, Minc contends that in the aftermath of the 2024 dissolution, which resulted in a hung parliament, Macron is worsening “a splintering of the political landscape.”

Minc criticises Macron for neglecting his own centrist base and, despite advocating coalition-building, refusing to make the concessions necessary to form alliances with other mainstream opposition parties. In Minc’s view, the only party with a realistic chance of winning the 2027 presidential election and achieving a parliamentary majority is Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.

“That would be a terrifying prospect” and “dishonouring” for Macron, Minc warned.

Recent polling by Elabe shows Le Pen far ahead of moderate contenders, with 34 per cent of voter support, compared with 15.5 per cent for Philippe, Macron’s first prime minister, and 12.5 per cent for Attal, the former premier who now leads Macron’s political party.

By Tamilla Hasanova