Left-Right tango leaves France in governance limbo

The political crisis in Paris could not have come at a more inopportune moment for the country and Europe

- Mohan Kumar

In retrospect, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, took a huge gamble in calling for snap parliamentary polls in July this year. That act of political folly has unleashed a train of events which now seem clearly beyond his control. The supreme irony is that it is to precisely take back political control that Macron was tempted to go to the electorate in July. The results of that election are too well known to bear any repetition here. The resultant three-way split in the French parliament, with no political faction enjoying a majority, is what has led to the present crisis.

Macron may have thought he bought himself valuable time when he appointed the experienced Michel Barnier, of Brexit negotiations fame, as the prime minister of a minority government. But he probably did not reckon with the leader of the far-Right National Rally, Marine Le Pen, who, having emerged as the "queenmaker", pulled the plug on the Barnier government by supporting a motion of no-confidence on December 4 in the French parliament. Barnier now has the dubious distinction of being the premier for the shortest possible time in French history. For President Macron, it is back to square one and he will have to look for another premier without any delay.