Analysis: France’s new parliament likely to be less pliant as president tries to tackle a series of crises
Domestic difficulties are stacking up for Emmanuel Macron as his second presidential term begins in earnest this week after his centrists lost their absolute majority in parliament.
The newly elected president now faces uncertainty over how to strike alliances in order to push through key legislation this summer.
Continue reading...Rachel Keke, who coordinated successful strike for better pay and conditions, takes on Macron’s former sports minister
A hotel housekeeper who led a strike for better pay and conditions at one of the biggest hotels in Paris could become the first cleaner to be elected to the French parliament on Sunday, as a left alliance challenges Emmanuel Macron’s centrists.
Rachel Keke, 48, said years of gruelling work cleaning up to 40 rooms a day at the Ibis hotel in Batignolles would enable her to speak up for workers in parliament. Her aim was to “make visible those who are invisible”, she told one rally.
Continue reading...Symbolic visit of German, French and Italian leaders comes as Russia continues attacks across country
The leaders of France, Germany and Italy have vowed to support Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union on a visit to Kyiv intended as a show of unity in the face of Russian advances and complaints from the Ukrainians about the pace of weapons supplies.
“My colleagues and I came here to Kyiv today with a clear message: ‘Ukraine belongs to the European family,’” the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said at a joint press conference with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis.
Continue reading...President faces a messy scramble if he cannot achieve absolute majority in second round of elections
A new alliance of the French left is putting pressure on Emmanuel Macron’s grouping in the second round of the parliament election, as the president tries to hold on to his parliamentary majority.
Macron’s centrists could lose dozens of seats in France’s national assembly in the final next Sunday after a strong showing by a historic alliance of parties on the left, led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed with the Socialists and the Greens.
Continue reading...President’s Ensemble alliance is projected to take 25.2% of the vote with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Nupes slightly ahead on 25.6%
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping was neck and neck with a new leftwing alliance led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the vote share of the first round of parliamentary elections.
A frantic final week of campaigning will begin on Monday before the second round, as Macron’s centrists still hope to edge ahead but face uncertainty over whether they can win a crucial majority of seats in parliament.
Continue reading...France’s president will be hoping his habit of planting a peck on a pate on polling days will bring him luck in parliamentary elections
Emmanuel Macron’s apparent habit of kissing a bald supporter on the head on election day has sparked French media speculation over whether it was a superstitious gesture as his centrists face a tough challenge from the left.
As the French president went to vote in the first round of the parliamentary elections in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet, where he has a house, he approached waiting supporters before grabbing party activist Grégoire Campion and kissing him on his bald head.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese pledges to reset Australia’s strained relationship with France after settling cancelled contract with Naval Group
The Australian government has agreed to pay €550m (A$830m) in a settlement with Naval Group over the former Morrison government’s controversial decision to scrap the French attack class submarine project.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced on Saturday the confidential settlement would draw a line under the cancelled $90bn project. Labor gave bipartisan support to the Aukus partnership that replaced the project – under which the US and the UK have offered to help Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines and cooperate on other advanced technologies.
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Continue reading...Kaja Kallas warns pain of sanctions will test relations, and also criticises Macron’s stance on Putin
European unity over the response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving difficult to maintain in the face of the war’s impact on inflation and living standards across the continent, Estonia’s prime minister has said.
Kaja Kallas also criticised the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for trying to provide Vladimir Putin with a diplomatic way out of the conflict, saying the only effect was to give the Russian leader the belief that he will not be isolated or face justice for his army’s war crimes.
Continue reading...As elections loom, public turns against interior minister Gérald Darmanin after he blames Liverpool fans for Paris fiasco
When Paris stepped in to host the Champions League final, the biggest match in international football after the World Cup final, the French authorities saw a chance to show that the nation was the ideal place to hold global sporting events.
This weekend, those hopes appear to be dashed as French opinion polls show widespread disapproval of the chaos that ensued, amid growing criticism of politicians and the police.
Continue reading...French president says door must be left open to allow for improvement in diplomatic relations after war
Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has said, to allow an improvement in diplomatic relations between the west and Moscow whenever the war comes to an end.
The French president said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had made a “historic and fundamental” error in invading Ukraine, but that nevertheless a wider escalation in hostilities had to be avoided.
Continue reading...Effort to win over doubters in Berlin, Paris and other capitals and start accession process
Ukrainian officials are embarking on a concerted diplomatic push to start the country’s journey towards EU membership, as scepticism remains in a number of western European capitals about a fast-track approach.
Since Russia’s invasion, many in Europe, including Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, have spoken in favour of putting Ukraine on a speedy path to EU accession by granting it candidate status.
Continue reading...Ex-Labour minister tells Hay festival that the involvement of former leaders in the ‘next phase of politics’ may not be sensible
Ed Balls has said former prime ministers such as Tony Blair and David Cameron should not attempt to return as “figureheads for the next phase of politics”.
The former cabinet minister’s comments addressed Blair’s upcoming Future of Britain conference, which is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate centrist politics in the UK by taking inspiration from the success of La République En Marche, the recently created centre-left party that brought Emmanuel Macron to power in France.
Continue reading...French president promises inclusive education system, accessible health service and stronger military at Elysée Palace ceremony
Emmanuel Macron said that his reelection marked a “fundamental democratic renaissance” as he was sworn in for a second term of office as president of France at a ceremony at the Elysée Palace.
Macron, who defeated his far right rival, Marine Le Pen, in the second round vote two weeks ago, entered on Saturday to the strains of Handel played by the Garde Républicaine’s string quartet and listened as the official results were read.
Continue reading...Unions warn that plans to raise retirement age could lead to protests and strikes amid cost of living crisis
Tens of thousands of people have taken part in French street demonstrations as Labour Day marches sent a “message” to Emmanuel Macron that he must consult citizens more during his second term, and reverse plans to raise the retirement age or face protests.
“There will be a fight over pensions, that’s clear – battle has been declared,” said the leftwing CGT trade union in Toulouse. Trade unionists, environmentalists and parties on the left – as well as yellow-vest anti-government protesters – marched in cities across France, demanding a rise in pensions and salaries and an end to Macron’s plan to gradually raise the pension age to 65.
Continue reading...Triumphant French president promises to listen as he chooses working-class Cergy for first public appearance since vote
Emmanuel Macron narrowly missed being hit by a bag of tomatoes during a surprise visit to a working-class area north of Paris, as he promised a new style of “listening to people” after his re-election as president.
In his first public appearance since Sunday’s vote, Macron strolled around a food market in the town of Cergy, north-west of Paris, shaking hands and posing for selfies. Most people were friendly, some shouted congratulations and others asked for help in finding a job, dealing with health problems or making ends meet.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron has beaten Marine Le Pen in the presidential runoff and will serve another term as president of France. Reliable projections put Macron on course for 58% to Le Pen’s 41%. Find out how the race is unfolding live department by department.
The election on Sunday 24 April is a runoff to decide between the first two candidates from the first round of voting on 10 April. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen topped that earlier poll.
Continue reading...President’s victory against Le Pen was significantly narrower than five years ago, scoring an estimated 58.8% of the vote
Both candidates are now back in Paris from their northern constituencies, French media report.
Macron is ensconced in the Élysée Palace on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré and will later join his campaign team near the Eiffel Tower. Le Pen is at her campaign headquarters in the west of Paris.
Continue reading...Macron faces a second term at least as challenging as his first, if not more so
Assured of another five years in the Élysée after beating his far-right rival, Marine Le Pen, on Sunday, Emmanuel Macron faces a second term at least as challenging as his first, if not more so. Here we look at some of the key challenges and priorities of the re-elected president:
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron goes into the election with a reasonable lead in polls over Marine Le Pen, after a fractious campaign
The polls have opened in mainland France for the second round of the presidential election in which voters will choose to give Emmanuel Macron another five years in office or elect Marine Le Pen.
Macron is favourite to win but any second term will be determined by whether he finishes with a convincing victory. Both he and Le Pen need to have convinced the almost 50% of voters who did not choose either of them in the first round ballot two weeks ago.
Continue reading...Veteran leftist is courting allies to help make him prime minister in June, handing him power to disrupt the winner of Sunday’s vote
Whoever wins the presidential election in France, one man is determined to sideline them and restrict their powers.
Even before the result is known tomorrow, the radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has emerged as a surprise kingmaker, has called on voters to make him prime minister in the legislative elections in June.
Continue reading...