Emmanuel Macron Goes Incognito After Election First Round Defeat

French President Emmanuel Macron has become more reclusive over the past two weeks, with the exception of prearranged foreign engagements.

Following his shocking loss in the first stage of the legislative election on June 30th, President Macron did not come on television to console his wounded soldiers. Instead, the Elysée Palace published a short message from the president urging unity.

Marine Le Pen’s opposition party is aiming almost to triple its seat holding, completely decimating President Emmanuel Macron’s parliamentary caucus in the surprise snap election he called three weeks ago.

According to the exit polls conducted after this elimination round, the National Rally (RN), led by nationalist-populist Marine Le Pen, was victorious. Preliminary results show that her group received 34% of the vote, with a further 29% going to the left-wing alliance formed specifically for this election and only 20% to President Macron’s Ensemble.

The number of MPs needed by any one organization or party in the 577-seat house is 289 seats. According to a number of exit polls, RN’s seat total might range from 250 at the conclusion of the next election to 310 in the second round of voting.  

Macron’s supporters do not seem to want him campaigning, and they are removing Macron’s image from campaign ads. He was told to stay away.

A number of high-ranking French officials and Macron friends have recently been appointed, leading Le Pen to accuse Macron of planning an administrative coup d’état. Macron has also been actively promoting the appointments of allies to important positions in Brussels.

New appointments to the security and law enforcement agencies were announced by the government spokeswoman after the usual Cabinet meeting on July 3rd. The appointments of several high-ranking military officers in the Air Force, Navy, and Army are also noteworthy.

The President planned to make more appointments, but he had to back down when the public started complaining about the administrative shakeup. 

According to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, the election may be a chance for them to rethink the way we govern. He went on to say that the election may lead to the formation of a plural National Assembly, where different political factions from the center, left, and right could collaborate on individual projects.

Macron has been accused of being a disaster and a catalyst of chaos in the midst of the political upheaval in France.