Macron hopes to work with opposition

Three days after his electoral alliance was defeated in the parliamentary elections, French President Emmanuel Macron has shown himself confident in his ability to work with the powerful opposition.

Macron said in a televised speech in Paris yesterday that there is a willingness to “make progress on important and urgent issues.” Opposition representatives expressed their willingness to make progress on issues such as the cost of living, jobs, energy policy and climate.

It was Macron’s first public reaction to the results of Sunday’s general election, in which the team’s coalition lost an absolute majority. “As in most Western democracies, such as Germany or Italy and many other countries, no political force can now pass laws alone,” the president said.

“We must learn to govern differently”

About 30 of the 577 seats will be lost for an absolute majority. Macron said the goal now was to increase the majority “either through a coalition agreement or through a majority according to the legal text”. “We have to learn to govern differently and to make laws,” the president stressed.

In the past two days, Macron has received representatives of the most important parties in one-on-one talks, including communist Fabrice Roussel and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, the future leader of the largest opposition faction. “Everyone has assured me that our institutions are respected and that they want to prevent the country from closing down,” Macron said.