Macron’s victory and the challenges before him

By any standard, it was a historic victory. Never before in the annals of French politics did a rank outsider with no experience of politics and a 'total-unknown' even two years back win a French presidential election. Emmanuel Macron, the young centrist leader of a liberal movement, won a resounding victory against the firebrand leader of the extreme right-wing National Front by a margin of over 30% of votes to become France's youngest ever President at the age of 39.

Now comes the real hard work. The first task in hand for the President-elect, once he is sworn in as President and given the keys to Elysee Palace, which is scheduled for next Sunday, is the appointment of a Prime Minister. Macron has said that he will appoint somebody with experience and 'skills to lead a parliamentary majority'. Several names have been doing the rounds. Notable among them are Socialist Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who supported Macron during his campaign, and Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the World Trade Organisation. There is a possibility of appointing a female Prime Minister and Christine Lagarde, the present Managing Director of International Monetary Fund, could also be in consideration.

After that, Macron's big challenge will be to win a working majority in parliament. He formed his political movement En Marche! (On the Move) only 13 months ago and has no representative in the National Assembly. Macron literally has to start from scratch. The name of the movement has now been changed to La Republique En March (Republic on the move) as preparations are afoot to put up candidates in all the 577 seats up for election in June. Macron has made it known that half of them would be taken from civil society – doctors, lawyers, engineers, economists and the like. He may have to lure members both from the right and the left of the political spectrum into his party. But these parties of the traditional right and far left, which came third and fourth respectively in the first round of the presidential election, with a combined total of 40% of the votes, will make an all-out effort to strike back and this could result in a coalition arrangement in parliament. Macron, though, has promised to accommodate people beyond the traditional right and left parties. The election of members of parliament will in a great way shape the government of Emmanuel Macron. Under the French Constitution, the President has great powers which can only be wielded if he has the support of parliament. Macron therefore needs support in parliament if he is to be able to govern and not turn into a lameduck President.

France today is a deeply divided country. Candidates of the extreme left and right mustered more than 40% votes in the first round. There is one France which is urban, well-to-do and supportive of reforms, while the other is concentrated in the north and north-east of the country, known as the 'rust-belt' of France, have no jobs and live in rural and less-developed areas. One important aspect of the second round of voting is that many voters backed Macron only to demonstrate their opposition to Marine Le Pen. They were not voting for Macron, but rather voting against Le Pen. Macron undoubtedly faces a herculean task in uniting a fractured country, in providing more employment and in carrying out his promised agenda of reform.

For almost two decades now, unemployment has been lurking at around 10%, with youth unemployment reaching a staggering 25%, making France a country with a higher unemployment rate than the average in EU countries. Macron has already declared that he will reduce expenditure in the public sector and this has already sparked street protests, on the day after the election by trade unionists. He intends to spend more on infrastructure and also lure foreign companies to France by drastically reducing corporate tax – steps which Macron believes will bring down the rate of unemployment to 7%.

France has been the target of a number of terrorist attacks in the last few years. Since the beginning of 2015, more than 200 people have lost their lives in 'jihadist' attacks in various parts of the country. Many of these attacks were carried out in the name of Islamic State. Just three days before the first round of polling, a policeman was killed near Champs Elysee in the centre of the capital. Right-leaning parties want to curb immigration to tackle these terrorist attacks. Marine Le Pen has advocated the expulsion of people identified on a terror watch list and also withdrawal of French nationality from all terror suspects. There appears to be considerable support for 'eradication of the ideology of Islam from France'. Macron has said that he will be at the forefront in the fight against terror and take immediate steps on this great challenge that France, like many other European countries, now faces. He thinks that the EU's external borders need to be reinforced and has stated that increasing the resources of the police and security forces will be his first priority.

There is no doubt that Emmanuel Macron has pulled off a remarkable victory, but it must be borne in mind that around 35% of French voters either abstained or left the polling booths with blank/spoiled ballot papers. Marine Le Pen, the defeated candidate, on the other hand, can boast of getting 11 million votes in the second round. Emmanuel Macron has a mountain to climb to convince the French people that they have chosen the right candidate to lead the country. He is aware of the massive challenges that lie before him. He definitely has to live up to his promises to reform and unite France. He did say that 'a new page in our history has turned'. Now he will have to embark on his mission to ensure that the pages following are full of fulfilled challenges.