Labor law, economic modernization, school reform… he will definitely need it!
The importance of this vote of confidence lies more in the attitude of the deputies labeled PS (Socialist Party) and LR (The Republicans). Because these two political families, which have alternately been in power for sixty years, will now pay the price for their electoral downfall.
Between “rebels,” “compatibles,” “constructives,” and other “hardliners,” the deep fractures will continue to be exposed. Eventually, this threatens the very existence of these parties, which have been unable to resolve their internal rivalries and especially to timely review their platform to present voters with a well-developed, thoughtful, and coherent program.
If Emmanuel Macron has “taken the wool off their backs,” it is because the main lines of his proposed actions encroach upon both the “ideas” of the liberal right and the moderate left.
Where before him Rocard, Chaban-Delmas, and Mendès-France had failed, he succeeded in creating a broad center that attracts disoriented French citizens who no longer identify with the old solutions. As a result, centrifugal force pushes aside the traditional parties, which emerge largely outdated from this ordeal.
The PS, having been decimated, has decided to be “in opposition.” An admission of weakness, it leaves its deputies the choice to vote against or to abstain from the “vote of confidence.”
Among the hardline Republicans, the directive is clearer: it will be a no. But because they are not so politically distant from Macron’s line—and perhaps because the idea of wandering in the political wilderness for five years is hardly appealing—a certain number of them will cross the Rubicon, adding insult to injury.
The new stage of the political realignment symbolized by this confidence contract promises to be as fascinating as it is cruel.
Jean-Miche Chevalier, Les Petites Affiches
