The catalyst for Lecornu\u2019s departure was the new government he unveiled on Sunday evening. He has promised a \u201cbreak\u201d with Macron\u2019s centrism, but when he announced his government it was anything but. Twelve of the eighteen ministers had been reappointed to their posts, and the response across the political spectrum was one of fury. Within hours the left and the right had promised to bring down the government at the earliest opportunity. They probably didn\u2019t expect that Lecornu would do the job for them.<\/p>\n
Jordan Bardella, the president of Marine Le Pen\u2019s National Rally, has demanded fresh elections. \u201cThere can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and without the dissolution of the National Assembly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon\u2019s far left La France Insoumise, the only route left for Macron is the exit. \u201cThe countdown has begun. Macron must go,\u201d declared Mathilde Panot, one of the party\u2019s leading figures.<\/p>\n
Even venerable centrists believe that the game is up for Macron. In an interview on Monday morning, prior to Lecornu\u2019s shock announcement, one of the Republican party\u2019s grandees Xavier Bertrand, castigated Macron for creating the \u201cmess\u201d and then \u201closing interest\u201d in France.<\/p>\n
It is hard to gainsay that statement. Macron is rarely seen in France these days; if the people want to get a glimpse of their president they must switch on their televisions and watch him pontificating at the United Nations or hugging a minor world leader in some quiet corner of the globe.<\/p>\n
It explains why his approval rating is at 16 percent, and two thirds of the country want him to resign. Increasingly, that does appear the only way out of the quagmire into which Macron has led France.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, Bruno Retailleau, the leader of the Republicans and the minister of the interior, declared that \u201cMacronism will end with Emmanuel Macron, simply because Macronism is neither a political movement nor an ideology: it is essentially based on one man.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is right, but unfortunately for France this one man is as intransigent as he is inept. His presidency has destroyed and demoralized the country in so many ways \u2013 economically, socially, diplomatically and intellectually. But he refuses to accept responsibility for his actions.<\/p>\n
Xavier Betrand accuses Macron of \u201closing interest\u201d in France. But did he have any in the first place? Macron is a narcissist; the presidency has always been about him. France is an afterthought. France is in agony, and the pain will only get worse as long as Macron is in power.<\/p>\n
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