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France elections: Macron rejects prime minister’s offer to resign

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President Emmanuel Macron has turned down the prime minister’s offer to resign, stating instead that the government must “remain on track and act.” After Mr Macron’s alliance lost its majority on Sunday, Elisabeth Borne was chastised by some observers. Her future appeared to be jeopardised as a result of the election, which forced the president to seek backing from competitors.

On Tuesday, he will meet with his political opponents for a rare meeting. However, neither Marine Le Pen’s far-right nor Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-green alliance want to collaborate with Mr Macron’s centrist government, which is 44 seats short of a majority and desperate to prevent parliamentary stagnation.

Ms Borne formally offered to retire on Tuesday morning, according to the Élysée palace, and sent a letter to President Macron, who declined.

Mr Macron turned down the offer “so that the cabinet can stay on track and act,” according to the Élysée Palace, adding that he would seek “constructive solutions” to the impasse that threatens his programme in his second term.

Following parliamentary elections, it is traditional for the French prime minister to propose to resign. Frequently, the president will simply re-appoint the same person in order to begin the process of forming a new government.

This time, though, the situation is different, as Mr. Macron has told Ms. Borne that she can stay in office with the same cabinet without resigning.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday and Wednesday, party representatives will meet in the Élysée Palace for high-level negotiations.

According to analysts, the president may be considering a compromise with right-wing Republicans. Christian Jacob, the party’s head, has announced that he will attend the talks.

However, in the run-up to the negotiations, Mr Jacob lashed out at Mr Macron in an interview with France Inter radio, dimming the chances of a settlement. “He was the one who was arrogant, and now he’s asking for help,” he explained.

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French election: Left surge threatens Macron majority in France

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Following a strong challenge from a coalition of left-wing parties in National Assembly elections, French President Emmanuel Macron faces losing his outright majority. In the first round of voting on Sunday, Mr. Macron’s Ensemble (Together) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-green coalition finished neck and neck.

Next week’s second round will be a challenge for the president to win 289 seats and preserve his majority. The turnout was an all-time low of 47.5 percent. Within half an hour of the initial projection, a sombre Jean-Luc Mélenchon claimed that his alliance had taken the lead: “The truth is that the presidential party is battered and lost at the end of the first round.”

He urged voters to show out in large numbers next Sunday “to definitively reject Mr Macron’s majority’s terrible ideas.” Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, won a second term in April, but he will struggle to push through changes without a majority in the Assembly. He wants to progressively raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, but Mr Mélenchon wants it to be lowered to 60.

Ensemble received 25.75 percent of the vote, just ahead of the left’s 25.66 percent, and was expected to control the National Assembly. Ensemble has 275 to 305 seats, according to TF1 pollster Ifop, with the green-left alliance having 175-205 seats. According to Ipsos for France Télévisions, Mr Macron’s alliance will win 255-295 seats in the lower house and 150-190 seats on the left.

The lowest turnout in contemporary French history. Many voters apparently decided to take advantage of the warm weather in France, which reached 27 degrees in Paris. However, the election campaign has so far been mainly dormant.

Mr Mélenchon has been an outlier, running a ferocious campaign since finishing third in the presidential race. With the motto “Mélenchon Prime Minister,” he has formed the Nupes alliance, which includes his own far-left party, France Unbowed, the Socialists, Communists, and Greens.Until 2002, the two elections were held separately, which meant that the government was sometimes led by a party other than the president’s, a practise known as cohabitation. If Mr Macron’s majority is lost, he may be forced to work with the left.

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‘Don’t humiliate Russia,’ Macron says, inciting outrage in Ukraine

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Ukraine’s foreign minister has slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for stating that Russia must not be humiliated as a result of its invasion. Mr. Macron stressed the importance of President Vladimir Putin having a way out of a “fundamental error.”

Allies, on the other hand, should “better focus on how to put Russia in its place” as it “humiliates itself,” according to Dmytro Kuleba. Mr Macron has spoken with Mr Putin on the phone several times in an attempt to broker a ceasefire and negotiations.

The French efforts to maintain contact with Putin contrast sharply with the US and UK positions. “Calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it,” Foreign Minister Kuleba said in a tweet.

Ukraine must not give Russia territorial concessions, according to Kyiv, because Russia’s invasion has been condemned internationally as a brutal aggression. Mr Macron had previously told French regional media that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “isolated himself.”

“I believe, and I told him so,” he said, “that he made a historic and fundamental error for his people, for himself, and for history.” “Isolating oneself is one thing,” he continued, “but getting out of it is a difficult path.”Mario Draghi, Italy’s prime minister, has sided with Mr Macron, saying Europe wants “some credible negotiations.”

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France Election Results: Macron Defeats Le Pen and Promises to Bring a Divided France Together

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Emmanuel Macron has been re-elected as France’s president for another five years after a convincing victory over rival Marine Le Pen, who received the far right’s highest vote share yet. He won by a larger margin than expected, 58.55 percent to 41.45 percent.

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, the centrist leader told jubilant supporters that now that the election was over, he would be a “president for all.” He is the first sitting president to be re-elected in 20 years.

Despite her defeat, Ms Le Pen, 53, claimed that her large vote share was still a victory.

She told her supporters that the ideas represented by her National Rally had reached new heights. “It’s the eighth time the Le Pen name has been hit by defeat,” said far-right rival Eric Zemmour, pointing out that she had ultimately failed, just like her father before her: “It’s the eighth time the Le Pen name has been hit by defeat.”

In 2011, Marine Le Pen took over the party founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in an attempt to electability. On Sunday, she received more than 13 million votes on a platform that included tax cuts to combat rising living costs, a ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf in public, and a referendum on immigration controls.

In his victory speech, Mr Macron said, “An answer must be found to the anger and disagreements that drove many of our compatriots to vote for the extreme right.” “It will be my responsibility, as well as the responsibility of those around me.”

More than a third of voters did not cast a ballot for either candidate. More than three million people cast spoilt or blank votes, resulting in the lowest turnout in a presidential run-off since 1969.

Although much of France was on vacation on election day, the low turnout reflected voter apathy, as voters complained that neither candidate represented them. The BBC reported that voters who said they were casting blank ballots wanted to punish the current president. Anti-Macron protesters gathered in a number of cities, including Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, and Nantes, to reject the outcome.

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French president Emmanuel Macron slapped on face

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On an official visit to the south-east of France, French President Emmanuel Macron has been slapped in the face.


In a video circulating on social media platforms, Mr Macron is seen walking up to a barrier on a trip to Tain-l’Hermitage outside the city of Valence. A man in a green T-shirt slaps Mr Macron in the face before officers quickly move in. The president, meanwhile, is pulled away. According to the reports two men have been arrested following the incident.

The identity and motive of the man are not yet clear. In a statement, the local prefecture said he and another individual are being questioned by the gendarmerie.

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France Lockdown: More relaxations offered

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The European country of France has come to normal almost completely after several months long lockdown.

The decision to bring in more relaxations has been announced by French President Emmanuel Macron.  

The removal of the restrictions means there will be no or only few restrictions in the area of hospitality and tourism businesses. And, there will be no or only few restrictions on family get-togethers.

The big announcement has been made while he was addressing the nation through television. This is the fourth time since the imposition of lockdown the president has address the nation through television.

Schools in France are expected to reopen on 22nd June. Meanwhile, high schools may not resume their activities on the said date.   

Many have expressed happiness in the decision to allow the country to breath freedom after these many days.

It is expected that the decision will give a serious impetus to the business sector of the country – which remains in the state of disarray at this moment. V

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