Transcription
Now, French President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed Sebastian Loru as prime minister, just days after he quit over political infighting. Loru must form a government and present a new budget to a hung parliament by Monday. Opposition lawmakers have criticized his reappointment, with parties calling for snap elections and Macron's resignation. Divisions over reducing France's soaring debt have toppled two predecessors.
For more on the situation in France, let's bring in journalist Anne Elizabeth Moute in Paris. Thank you for joining us here on DW. And perhaps you could start by explaining to us why is Emmanuel Macron expecting a different result from the same choice of prime minister?
Uh, for some, there's the possibility that there will be exhaustion setting in, uh, but that's not very unlikely. But certainly, he is banking at some stage to, uh, sort of hope that chaos will be, uh, less acceptable than yet another prime minister. Uh, but otherwise, you know, your question is the question of many people in France just right now.
Um, uh, but another question that I'm sure many people in France will will also ask because, uh, this is now the third prime minister that somehow doesn't seem to be able to do what he's required to do. Why didn't Emmanuel Macron choose another candidate from his coalition partners for prime minister? Maybe further to the left? Further to the left has been questioned, but he doesn't have, uh, within his coalition partners, uh, a left-winger. He's got people who are, uh, left of center, which is entirely different. Some of those have already asked for his resignation, which is a pretty strong thing in a strong regime like the Fifth Republic.
And when I say strong regime, until now, for instance, two of his former prime ministers, Edouard Philippe, his first prime minister, who's the, who was the mayor of Le Havre and he's a centrist politician, and Gabriel Attal, his one before last two prime ministers, have both called for his resignation. And it's very significant as well that a, a major news magazine in France, L'Express, which is a bit like Der Spiegel in Germany, has also said "Macron and dignity." I mean, it is a situation that's unprecedented.
It's a job, therefore, that within Macron's coalition, it's not, not so easy to find people he can trust, and it's also not so easy to find people who expect to be overthrown politically in the house by a vote of no confidence in a few days. Uh, so it's a combination. I don't trust most of them, and the one I trust, I know will be overthrown. And that includes his choice, Sebastian Loru, who is now trying his luck a second time. And he needs to appoint a government this weekend and submit a 2026 budget bill by Monday.
What's at stake? What happens if he fails this time?
Um, if he fails this time, it, it seems to be very difficult not to hold a snap election. We are in a kind of configuration where you need a snap election, but Macron used up that, that possibility a little over a year ago, almost a year and a half ago, when he called, totally unwarranted, a snap election when he still had a coalition majority, clear majority in the house. And now he doesn't have this anymore. So, uh, the problem is, uh, that, uh, he, he doesn't have much, uh, and and we're getting closer to the fact that either we have a snap election, which is a legislative election, and it will return more or less the same composition in the house, but with more MPs on the hard right, uh, or he calls a presidential election, which he really does not want to do because that would be an admission of failure. He's the next presidential election, where he can't run again, is in 2027. And then, uh, the, it's entirely possible that there would be a natural successor president.
And why, why is it so difficult to come to a consensus, for example, when it comes to the 2026 budget? What's so difficult about it?
The first of all, because, uh, you've got irreconcilable differences, and there's no culture of consensus in France, uh, about pensions. Not only does the, uh, uh, the left refuse, and a large swathe of the left refuse any pension reforms such as the one right now, which is working from age 62 to 64, which is still early in terms of European, uh, averages. But the left also says we have to go back to the age of 60, the way it changed it from 65 in 1981. So there's no, no idea that they're going to compromise on anything because they feel that the voter wants something inconceivable, considering that we have a pay-as-you-go system and that it is completely bankrupt.
So, uh, uh, all most decisions are the same. And I will say also that there was anger when, um, Emmanuel Macron's prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, said last week that she supported now suspending the very reform that she carried in a very difficult way in the house, uh, um, uh, and was eventually censored for, but it's a French expression, she lost a vote of no confidence on this. It's, it's, there's no culture of "can do" in French politics. Uh, everybody is grandstanding. So it makes it very difficult to get somewhere. Indeed.
Well, uh, journalist Anne Elizabeth Moute in Paris there. Thank you so very much for shedding some light on the political situation there in France. Thank you so much.