Emmanuel Macron’s camp are furious with a small clique of “sorcerer’s apprentice” advisers who talked him into what many see as a “suicidal” gamble in calling snap elections in three weeks.
His decision to dissolve parliament after being trounced in European elections on Sunday has triggered a maelstrom in French politics and prompted fury among his staunchest allies, say reports.
According to Le Parisien, the French president has kept an Olympian calm since his coup de theatre, and retains the “satisfied look of someone for whom the plan is going smoothly” despite the real prospect of the hard-Right National Rally (RN) winning a parliamentary majority on July 7.
He barely looked up when news flashed up that Eric Ciotti, the head of the mainstream-Right Republicans party announced his desire to forge an alliance with Marine Le Pen’s RN.
“The clarification of the political landscape that the president called for on Sunday evening is in the process of taking place. In chemistry, we call this precipitation”, one satisfied aide was heard remarking.
‘I am angry with him for playing a dangerous game’
Within the corridors of power, however, many are appalled at what they see as an insane gamble that could see Macron’s Renaissance group haemorrhage seats in the National Assembly amid a wave of support for RN, led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella.
“Macron is guilty of hubris because he has never experienced electoral failure before. Hence his headlong leap forward. He’s in denial”, one MP cited by Le Parisien complained.
He went on to blast “certain people” close to the President whose influence has been “harmful”.
“These guys are in the process of wrecking everything we’ve built over the last seven years that will see 150 MPs [go] and to clarify what exactly?,” another aide is cited as saying.
A former minister added: “I’m not angry with him for the policies he’s pursuing, but I am angry with him because he’s playing a dangerous game. We’ve taken one electoral punishment on the chin [for the European Parliament]. There was no point in offering [the RN] the other cheek”, he added, warning that in a month’s time Renaissance could wake up with “just 20 seats” in the National Assembly.
Mr Macron is betting on the persuasive power of his popular 35-year-old prime minister Gabriel Attal, who will lead the legislative campaign. The president will clearly also be heavily involved, starting with a major press conference on Wednesday morning.
Speaking to stunned MPs, Mr Attal reportedly said he acknowledged it was a huge surprise and “brutal” to mount a campaign in three weeks.
“We’re not here to talk about our to talk about our feelings, but to move forward because the die is not yet cast.” the prime minister said.
