Tuesday evening, on the eve of the Paris Olympics, President Emmanuel Macron went on national television to announce that the government of his Ensemble party would remain in office despite losing the July 7 election. Declaring the ministers he appointed would remain in power until the games end in mid-August, he provocatively invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despised worldwide for Israeli genocide in Gaza, to attend the Olympics.
French President Emmanuel Macron casts his ballot, Sunday, June 30, 2024 [AP Photo/Yara Nardi]
If he can trample on the election result and brazenly embrace Netanyahu, this is above all due to the bankruptcy of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, who act as enablers of Macron.
After the NFP placed first in the July 7 election, there was a surge of popular enthusiasm over the surprise defeat of the National Rally (RN) and the debacle suffered by Macron. Calls circulated for Macron’s resignation and for the abrogation of the unpopular pension cuts he imposed last year. Attending the July 9 NATO summit in Washington, Macron did not dare publicly reiterate his call to send ground troops to fight Russia in Ukraine.
