There are two days left until the early French parliamentary elections and the climate for Macron is anything but favorable.
French MEP Raphael Glicksman compared the president to the Roman emperor Nero and Pontius Pilate.
Glicksman, a center-left MEP and star of the French left who is a member of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, criticized President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call parliamentary elections in response to Le Pen’s landslide victory in the European elections.
“Emmanuel Macron played the role of Nero by deciding to dissolve the National Assembly when nothing and no one forced him to do so,” he said. “And now it is Pontius Pilate who washes his hands.”
Calling early elections was a gamble “to limit the damage” to Macron’s party and weaken the left, Gliksman said. Therefore, he added, the strategy was “extremely risky” and could fail if voters ended up overwhelmingly supporting the Rassemblement National.
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In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron attacked his far-right rivals for acting as if they had already won the upcoming early elections.
“What arrogance! All the talk today is as if he were already in power,” a visibly angry Macron told reporters in the early hours of Friday as he left the Brussels summit.
In recent days, the National Rally has repeatedly questioned Macron’s powers should the far-right party win the French parliamentary elections and open a call cohabitationwhen the president and prime minister come from opposing political camps.
Earlier this week, National Alert president Jordan Bardela stated that the future French government (which he hopes to lead) should choose the country’s European commissioner candidate over Macron. On thursday, Le Pen argued that Macron would be reduced to an “honorary” role in terms of defense and command of the French armed forces.
“The French haven’t chosen yet. Who are they to explain how the constitution should work? Who are they; What political culture are we talking about? Come now! We have to respect the French,” Macron said frustrated.