French President Emmanuel Macron has a fondness for "long-term battles," his advisers often repeat. His comments on Saturday, July 5, at a rally at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris confirmed that. Addressing his party's youth section, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary, Macron said, "I will need you in two years, in five years, in 10 years."
This presidential foray into the political arena was unusual. French presidents traditionally refrain from participating in partisan rallies outside of presidential campaigns. "But Emmanuel Macron does not want to fade away; he wants to stay at the center of the game," said Frédéric Dabi, the head of the IFOP polling institute.
Even though the Constitution bars him from running for a third consecutive term in 2027, Macron projected himself into a world in which he could be a presidential candidate again. While he regularly deals with leaders who are unconcerned with democratic rules or political alternation, such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi, Macron will have to abide by the rule introduced in the 2008 constitutional revision, which limits presidents to two consecutive terms. "I am the first president in our history who does not have the constitutional right to run again," he said with apparent regret on May 13, speaking to TF1. (He is the first president since the 2008 amendment to serve two terms.)
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