Macron Leaves France and Markets in an Unholy Mess
The three-way election stalemate leaves French governance almost as big a loser as Le Pen. And she now has the biggest party in the country.
De Gaulle had to lie down in the bed he’d made, too.
Photograph: Keystone-France/Getty
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It could have been worse. French President Emmanuel Macron’s reckless decision to call a legislative election immediately after the right-wing National Rally (RN) won the most votes in last month’s European Parliament contest didn’t result in a new far-right government. There is no constitutional crisis and no immediate threat to the existence of the euro. It did, however, result in an unconscionable mess that will likely leave French governance even more confused. It didn’t backfire as badly as David Cameron’s Brexit referendum, or the one that Charles de Gaulle felt compelled to call after the May 1968 protests, but it was still a bad mistake.