Rumours that Emmanuel Macron could resign if Marine Le Pen wins a majority in parliament spooked French markets so much yesterday that he was forced to come out and reject the speculation. He will stay as president, he says, no matter what.
The French government will still function if Macron’s party loses more seats in parliament (where he doesn’t currently have a majority). As president, he’ll still have the prerogative over foreign policy, the power to dissolve the assembly and can call a state of emergency. So France would not sink into chaos the day after those elections – but Macron could lose the ability to set a domestic agenda if the results are poor enough.
His ministers are sounding the alarm about their opponents. Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, warned yesterday that the policies of Le Pen’s National Rally risk a debt crisis. Amongst the measures proposed by National Rally (RN) is a cut in VAT on electricity and gas from 20 per cent to 5.5
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