As Notre-Dame reopens, Macron stands in ashes of French political edifice

The reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, five years after being devastated by a fire, was supposed to be Emmanuel Macron’s triumph.

The French president has often used the reconstruction of Notre-Dame as a parable for his own fortunes, repeating that he was ridiculed in 2019 when he promised to rebuild it in five years and that, defying sceptics, he got the job done.

He did that again in a televised speech on Thursday, telling the country the reopening of Notre-Dame was “proof that we can do great things, we can do the impossible” and adding: “We must do the same for the nation.”

But as he welcomes more than 35 world leaders on Saturday in the beautifully restored masterpiece of gothic architecture, Macron will stand in the ashes of the French political landscape, with no easy way to rebuild what was demolished.

In the front rows of the cathedral, side by side with global leaders such as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, will stand members of his defeated caretaker government, toppled this week by an ad-hoc alliance of far-right and leftwing lawmakers.

That leaves France, the European Union’s sole nuclear power, rudderless just as Russia is on the offensive in its war against Ukraine and Europe is struggling to make its voice heard amid Sino-American rivalry.

“France’s political instability is a problem, especially for its influence in Europe,” said Georgina Wright, an analyst at the Institut Montaigne think-tank, adding that European partners were worried about France’s contributions in terms of equipment to Ukraine. “It’s up to government to sign off defense spending.”

Although Macron has castigated the “cynicism” of far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen and her team for deciding to pull the trigger on a government and leave France without a budget for next year, critics say he has only himself to blame.

The unruly parliament that decided to fell Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government on Wednesday was the result of Macron’s shock decision to call early elections this summer, a move that was supposed to take political rivals by surprise but backfired badly.

Not only did Macron lose his working majority, but he gave his arch-rival Le Pen the power to influence the course of events for the first time since the National Front, now renamed the National Rally, was founded by her father.

“The populist threat spares no country,” conceded lawmaker Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, a member of Macron’s party.

“It’s on the rise everywhere. Trump is back, the British voted for Brexit, in Germany the far-right is getting phenomenal scores in some regions,” he told Reuters.

Not having a functioning government by his side during this weekend’s celebrations will not be just an embarrassment for photo opportunities, it means Macron will be severely restricted in the inevitable diplomatic discussions to be held on the sidelines.

Macron expects to hold meetings with Trump and, perhaps, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been invited but not confirmed his attendance, diplomatic sources said. But there is little he can promise the two leaders without a budget for next year.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote of no-confidence, his defense minister, Sebastien Lecornu, warned the lack of a budget would prevent a planned 3.3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) increase in France’s military spending.

With Trump having made loud calls for Europe to shoulder more of the cost of the war in Ukraine and Zelenskiy urging stepped-up efforts to prevent his country from collapsing, the hole at the heart of Macron’s administration could not come at a worst time.

In Thursday’s national address, the French president said he would name a new prime minister “in the coming days”. have told Reuters he wants to move fast, unlike over the summer, when he waited two months before naming Barnier.

However, there is no clear path towards a more stable government, and any new prime minister would have to deal with the same hung parliament until at least July, the earliest time the constitution allows new elections to be called.

In the corridors of parliament, Macron’s allies want to believe their leader will defy sceptics and find a way to rebuild the country’s standing over the 30 months he has left in office, like he did for Notre-Dame.

“It showed we are capable of rebuilding,” Prisca Thevenot, Macron’s former government spokeswoman, told Reuters. “We really have no other choice,” she said.

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