French President Macron’s party is renamed Renaissance. In addition to a promising-sounding name, it is about creating power structures for the period after the end of the presidential term.
While people in France are struggling with purchasing power concerns and inflation, President Emmanuel Macron is forging a new, promising-sounding project. The President’s center party was renamed Renaissance on Saturday – “Rebirth”. So far it has been called La République en Marche (LREM), which radiates dynamism, meaning “The Republic in Motion”.
At the same time, two small partners became part of the new party. “This is the start of a new stage in the transformation of our country,” said Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne at the party congress. With the transformation into Renaissance, the movement had “grown up”.
The head of the Élysée Palace is less concerned with securing the power of his movement than with the name, which promises a golden age, even after the end of his two-term presidential term in 2027. “One of the big challenges for Emmanuel Macron in his second term is to prepare for the time afterwards. He doesn’t want a scenario à la Obama,” a government official told Les Echos newspaper. After his double term in office (2008-2016), the then US President Barack Obama had to give up his presidential chair to Donald Trump.
“Political project” instead of name change
“The context has changed. Since Emmanuel Macron will not run again in 2027, we need a party that is again catching voters,” said a party representative. Heavyweights like Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin should join the party and pull together. So far, Macron has integrated politicians with roots in other parties into his government, but by no means all of them have been anchored in his political movement.
“Macronist ideology is destined to endure beyond Macron,” a party strategist told Figaro. “It’s not a name change, it’s a political project,” said MEP Stéphane Séjourné, who was responsible for the name change. It’s about new methods, faces and ideas. In order to consolidate the power base, more ministers are to be included in the leadership of the Renaissance party. Several leading politicians of the majority have expressed their wish, wrote “Les Echos”.
Left alliance and extreme right as opponents
Like a high-flyer, Macron won the presidential election in 2017 and, with his newly founded party, won the following parliamentary election at a run with an overwhelming majority. He integrated heads of the traditional Socialist and Republican parties, with the result that both parties have lost much of their importance and support. At the same time, the expansion of the Macron party to the left and right means that a left-wing alliance and a strengthened extreme right are now making life difficult for it as a challenger. In the parliamentary elections in June, the presidential camp lost its absolute majority, which is rare in France.
In addition to securing power in the distant future, Macron has recently also been concerned with being able to push through his projects in a situation that is also difficult with the Ukraine war and economic problems. There was talk of cooperation and a new style in Parliament. However, neither the opposition, which often goes on a blockade course, nor Macron seem to be striving for a political compromise in parliament in any case, as is usual in other countries.
Discussions with the individual parties in the Ministry of Finance, for example, should get the budget dry before the parliamentary debate. And Macron prefers to chart France’s fundamental course on important future issues himself – he recently initiated a controversial reform dialogue to which he invited parties and social groups. Apart from his Renaissance plans, Macron will soon be forced to confront his opponents if he gets serious about the planned pension reform, which will allow the French to retire later than before. Protests are inevitable.
Source: Stern
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