Edouard Philippe: A 'tone deaf' presidential bid?

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00:00And while the political uncertainty continues here in France, Edouard Philippe, the country's

00:04former prime minister under Emmanuel Macron, has announced that he's throwing his hat into the ring

00:09for the presidency in 2027. Philippe has remained a popular figure in France since resigning from

00:15the prime minister's post in 2020. We can now bring in France 24's Angela Diffley to talk more

00:21about this further. Angela, does this change anything at all? No, it doesn't. You know,

00:26some people are arguing it's kind of tone deaf to announce this now. There's enough going on

00:32without talking about whether or not your personal ambition and your ambition for France,

00:38he would say, for the 2027 presidential elections, you know, does that matter right now?

00:44It does indicate something quite interesting. The atmosphere in France at the moment,

00:51the vibe is kind of at once chaotic and oddly very still. It's a very strange mood in the country.

01:03And it is true that for the first time in a long time, the far left element of this grouping

01:13in parliament, which won the biggest number of MPs, have put forward the motions to impeach

01:19President Macron. Now, that has no chance of happening. But even talk of such an idea is

01:26astonishing. No one would have thought that just six months ago. There is also open debate about

01:31whether Macron might resign. That, too, is there is absolutely nothing about Emmanuel Macron's

01:37character, as we know it, which suggests that he would ever entertain that idea.

01:42And there is no constitutional need for him to do so. But it is an indication of the

01:48bonkers climate at the moment in politics.

01:50Speaking about the bonkers climate in politics, how are we on that search for a prime minister?

01:56So, 50 days in, and we are in a very odd situation. So, Macron is consulting people,

02:03has been for a time now. And it's reached a slightly odd situation where both the extreme

02:10right and the extreme left have a sort of veto on who might be chosen. Macron is almost checking

02:17with Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the far right Rassemblement National,

02:25which was boycotted by many French people. And Macron said how dangerous it might be if such

02:32a party got power. She has ended up with almost a veto on any name that might be nominated by

02:38Macron. And she has let it be known that she would favour some sort of neutral technocrat

02:45with the condition that that person might introduce proportional representation.

02:50On the far left, they have changed slightly. They said they won't veto specific names,

02:58but that they want pension reform. This totemic battle that Macron wanted pushed through,

03:05they would like that perhaps overturned as a condition of them not toppling any name put

03:11forward by Macron. It is a very difficult seat. A new name has come out a bit today,

03:16David Glissenau, the mayor of Cannes. He has the advantage of not having a personally very difficult

03:23situation with Marine Le Pen. And it's conceivable that there might be enough votes on the right for

03:26that. Who knows? Angela, when Emmanuel Macron called those snap elections, everyone was

03:33questioning why exactly he did it. Now, it's been nearly two months since the results of the

03:39parliamentary polls. And we still don't have a prime minister. Everyone seems to call into

03:43question what exactly he's doing here. Yeah, you know, there will be few people who think that

03:49these elections in June, July were a good idea. Everybody must be wondering, and Macron himself

03:56perhaps, was that a good idea? After that, it should be remembered, it's not the same as the

04:02United States. Macron has the right under the constitution to pick a prime minister.

04:08And for him, the difficulty has been reading the message that the electorate sent. Because

04:14although the biggest grouping in parliament, the biggest number of MPs, is on the left,

04:21that includes a far left component, which he and very many French voters consider to be

04:26too extremist, as bad as the far right Rassemblement National. He is worried about

04:33what they might do to the economy. And he's worried that they might be immediately voted out

04:37of power, and that France's stability would be under threat. It is difficult to read the message

04:44the electorate sent. There is an argument that Macron, although it's his right to appoint a

04:49prime minister, should not be prioritising the economy, the stability of the country. He should

04:54simply let democracy run its course. They have the highest number of MPs. If they get toppled,

04:59they get toppled. Let a very imperfect democracy run its course. It's true that he has given himself

05:06a very difficult job doing this, and it doesn't look like it's working out that well so far.

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