'French parliamentary arithmetic points to PM with coalition from left or populist (far) right'

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Emmanuel Macron now confronts what could very well be an existential crisis of the Fifth Republic. Sébastien Lecornu, Prime Minister number 7, was unable to build a working majority after rolling the dice with the usual suspects, that included former PMs, and so he promptly relinquished power. Parliamentary arithmetic suggests a mission impossible à la française: forging a coalition with the left or pandering to the populist far right. The French president fears either path will further fracture a nation deep in crisis. Since re-election in 2022, Macron has wielded an unwavering determination to lean towards a centrist, often centre-right, PM to unify France, ironically obtaining the polar opposite effect and deepening division. Could a moderate socialist bridge centre‑left and centre‑right to offer a lifeline to France’s strong executive tradition of the semi-democratic, and once-pragmatic, Fifth Republic? To properly address a political crisis in uncharted waters, Eve Irvine welcomes Dr Nicholas Startin, Political Scientist, Associate Professor of International Relations at John Cabot University.