Emmanuel Macron used his New Year’s address to the French people to admit that his decision to dissolve parliament and call snap elections, casting France into a political crisis, backfired.
‘I must recognize tonight that the dissolution has, for the moment, brought more division in the (National) Assembly than solutions for the French,’ he said, adding for the first time that ‘I take my full part for that.’
Last night’s uncharacteristically humble admission was as close as the French leader has come to apologising for his decision in June that triggered early legislative elections.
They produced a hung parliament and saw Macron’s centrist Ensemble party slump to second place behind the far left, splitting the National Assembly among three sharply opposed main blocks – none with a majority to govern alone.
Macron has since had to rotate through three prime ministers – with Gabriel Attal followed by Michel Barnier followed by the current premier, François Bayrou – in an effort to find a consensus-builder who might be able to bridge parliamentary divisions, pass a 2025 budget and stave off the risk of another governmental collapse.
The French leader last month piled the blame on extremist parties for bringing down his government and ‘causing chaos’ across France, defiantly declaring he would not step down after then-prime minister Barnier resigned following a no-confidence vote.
A coalition of the far-Right National Rally and Left Wing New Popular Front brought down the former Brexit negotiator’s government – which lasted just 90 days and was the shortest administration in modern French history.
Macron refused to step down in the wake of the embarrassing defeat, declaring that ‘the far-Right and the far-Left have united in an anti-republican front’ and adding: ‘I know that some are tempted to hold me responsible for this situation. It’s much more comfortable for them.’
French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a screen as he delivers his televised New Year’s address to the nation from the Elysee Palace, in Paris on December 31, 2024
A rally following results of the second round of voting in France’s legislative election, July 7, at Place de la Republique
In his more deferential address last night, Macron expressed hope that lawmakers will form ad hoc majorities to pass legislation and said ‘our government should be able to follow a path of compromise to get things done.’
Macron has remained resolute that he will not resign and plans to continue his second term until it expires in mid-2027.
He said in December: ‘The mandate that you democratically entrusted to me is a five-year mandate and I will exercise it fully until its end.’
Macron, who won a second mandate in 2022, cannot be forced out by parliament, but members of the RN and the hard left have repeatedly called for his resignation over the recent political crisis – the biggest crisis since the Yellow Vest popular unrest of 2018-19.
Under the French constitution, new parliamentary elections cannot be held until July, but Macron hinted that referendums could be held in 2025 as he stated that he would ask French voters ‘to decide on certain crucial issues’ this year.
Aside from reflecting on the political turmoil of the past year, Macron began his New Year’s message on a lighter note – casting back to the Olympic Games and Paralympics in Paris that temporarily shifted the focus from France’s political woes.
‘Together this year, we proved that impossible isn’t French,’ Macron said, voicing over video highlights from the Games.
The events ‘showed a France full of audacity and panache, crazily free,’ he said.
A fireworks and light show held on the occasion of the New Year on the Champs-Elyees in Paris, France to mark the start of 2025
Macron also celebrated the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, splendidly rebuilt from the catastrophic fire that brought down its spire and turned its roof into ashes in 2019.
He called the rebuilt monument, the reopening of which was attended by Donald Trump and dozens of world leaders, ‘the symbol of our French will.’
Some of the revelers who flocked to Paris’ Champs-Elysées boulevard for a music, video and fireworks show ushering in 2025 said they hope for a brighter outlook for France.
‘It´s been complicated: parliament being dissolved, the somewhat chaotic state of things and the current climate with the war in Ukraine and everything that´s happening in the world. It´s a bit anxiety-inducing,’ said Xavier Lepouze, who traveled with his wife, Angelique, from the Normandy region west of Paris.
‘We´d love to have peace, calm,’ she said. ‘To see joy and happiness in people´s minds and on their faces, because you can feel that everyone is morose on a daily basis, so there´s a real need for positivity.’
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