World News: Macron Burned in Political Effigy Over Reforms

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Category: World News - Europe

Published on Monday, 17 April 2023 08:57

Written by Olivier Longhi

French President Emmanuel Macron controversial pension reforms have continued to reverberate as Franco's maintain protests and conclude the Republic has been plunged into a deepening political crisis of epic proportion which will take years to recover.

The Fifth Republic seems out of breath in front of a French society calling for a new democratic infusion and in total opposition to the profile of that society which had validated the institutions of 1958.

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Who will need time to recover from the effects and consequences of the social crisis born of pension reform? To the President or to the institutions of the Fifth Republic? Or both? What seems clear from the outset and without discussion is that the President of the Republic wishes, despite a scheduled meeting with the inter-union, to move as quickly as possible to the rest of the union.

The agenda presented during the 2022 presidential campaign used to convince voters has fallen to the wayside. In short, move on to something else with the hope that one news event will chase the other. But between the President's wish and social reality, a gap exists. Even more profound as the steep and formal aspect of the institutions of the Fifth Republic dug it even deeper. Some have argued that the Government's use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which was contested in France and misunderstood in neighboring democracies, is being put forward.

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Also, with a President eager to   move forward at all costs in a fragmented social landscape, it is not abusive to argue that the France has entered a crisis of regime. The expression, used many times, has never taken on as   much meaning as in this spring of 2023.

Legislature and Reflection

For there were few circumstances during the Fifth Republic when, despite a generally favorable economic situation despite still high inflation, the institutions inspired a such rejection. The presidentialization of the regime, the repeated use during this legislature (but not only) of Article 49.3, the abolition of the National Assembly, reduced to the rank of registration chamber contribute, among other factors to tarnish a constitution and a Republic yet conceived in a logic of stability and stabilization.

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Does this mean that the French are calling for fewer rigid institutions, capable of ensuring better representation of the country's various political forms and for a partial loss of powers? To the Head of State? No one knows because to be sure. It would be necessary to initiate an official reflection, desired by the President of the Republic, which would lead to a project constitutional, voted by referendum.

So be it. But by developing the analysis, would not the social malaise that grips the country today be due to a form of anti-Macronism already present during the previous mandate? The idea is attractive because it would crystallize on a single individual all the ills of the country.

Powers and Morals

However, without evading a part of anti-Macronism, it is feared that the evil is deeper than that because engaged in a guilty inertia for many years, to tell the truth since the death of General de Gaulle, father of this constitution wanted by him and espousing his conception of power, the Fifth Republic is dying.  

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This tailor-made constitution, into which his successors blended with relative ease, because it granted them broad powers, has nevertheless lost over time its historical relevance and political, gradually detaching themselves from the emotions of the French who, on the other hand, saw their mores, their habits and their   desires evolve. Also, to argue that France is a democracy is fundamentally true. But it also appears that the one founded by the 1958 constitution no longer corresponds to the one to which the French aspire.

It remains to be seen whether President Macron has understood and integrated this or whether, like his predecessors, he will line up behind the legitimacy of the institutions to continue to act.

Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.