France's troubled Macron to break silence on parliament loss
French President Emmanuel Macron will speak publicly for the first time since he suffered a major political blow when his party lost its parliamentary majority
France's troubled Macron to break silence on parliament loss
Show all 5Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.French President Emmanuel Macron is to speak publicly later Wednesday, for the first time since he suffered a major political blow when his party lost its parliamentary majority.
Macron is scheduled to give a national televised address after two days of back-to-back meetings with the leaders of rival parties, in an effort to to show he is open to dialogue. But those rivals appear determined to remain in opposition to Macron and not keen to cooperate or compromise with him.
He'll be speaking hours after far-right leader Marine Le Pen made a grand entrance into the National Assembly with scores of lawmakers from her National Rally party, which obtained a historic score of 89 seats in Sunday's elections.
Macron’s Together! alliance won the most seats — 245 — but that's 44 short of a majority in France’s most powerful house of parliament. The main opposition force is the leftist Nupes coalition created by hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, with 131 seats.
The outcome will make it harder for Macron to accomplish campaign promises like measures to boost purchasing power, tax cuts and raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65. His government still has the ability to rule, but only by bargaining with legislators.
The president retains control over foreign policy. Macron heads Thursday to a series of global summits expected to focus on the war in Ukraine.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.