Emmanuel Macron’s election gamble failed. Now he’s nowhere to be seen

Paris: Emmanuel Macron hasn’t been seen since the president and his wife, Brigitte, were spotted strolling the streets of the French coastal town of Le Touquet in dark sunglasses and leather bomber jackets a few hours before the scale of his defeat in legislative elections became known.

That spontaneous sighting — which led some on social media to comment whether he was trying to channel Tom Cruise in Top Gun — was the last time he was out in public.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron stand in the voting station before voting in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage.Credit: AP

His Renaissance party got trounced by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally on Sunday night in a vote he called three weeks ago.

In the lead-up the campaign, his aides wanted him to keep a low profile given the depth of his unpopularity. But the president, known from his loquaciousness, couldn’t help himself. He went on a two-hour podcast interview warning France faced “civil war” if his rivals won.

If the country is on edge, it’s largely down to his decision — which many, including his closest allies considered reckless — to dissolve the National Assembly in response to losing to Le Pen in the European Parliament elections.

His no-show comes as his entourage is trying to carve a path out of political obliteration. The president has hunkered down inside the Elysee palace and chaired a cabinet meeting on Monday at midday.

Many ministers left that meeting grim-faced. A visibly shaken Prime Minister Gabriel Attal walked down the palace stairs.

Agriculture minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher was seen anxiously gesticulating while talking to someone. At one point she was spotted facepalming.

In that gathering, Macron said he believed the far-right was close to winning outright, and that he wouldn’t have been elected president in 2017 and 2022 without left-wing votes, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Whether Le Pen achieves an absolute or a relative majority hinges on the ability of the French to maintain the so-called Republican front — a tactic of rallying around the highest-placed candidate to block the far-right in the runoff.

Visibly shaken: French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.Credit: AP

This strategy successfully stopped the far right in the past, notably in the 2002 presidential election against Jean-Marie Le Pen. However, it is losing its effectiveness as some of Macron’s allies refuse to withdraw in favour of candidates from the left-wing New Popular Front, which includes far-left party France Unbowed.

The president, whose group garnered only 20 per cent of the votes nationwide, has yet to provide clear guidance. On Sunday night, in a short written statement, Macron called for a “large democratic and Republican alliance” against Le Pen’s National Rally.

Emmanuel Macron in cap and sunglasses.Credit: Le Parisien

However, it was unclear if this grouping would include all France Unbowed candidates, at whom he has levelled accusations of antisemitism over their support for Gaza following the October Hamas attacks.

So far, Macron has left the speaking to his 35-year-old premier Attal, who barely six months into the job is more popular than his boss. He is scheduled to appear on television at 8 pm, essentially acting as a stand-in for the president.

As for Macron, what happened to the leader who famously struck a combative pose, emulating Raging Bull in a black-and-white photo? His supporters will be looking for that fighter to show his face.

Bloomberg

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