In the early morning of October 6, the autumn winds of Paris ripped. On the river Seine, French President Emmanuel Macron wandered alone in a black coat, the security officers followed far away, without disturbing his meditation. The television footage captured this scene, after the French media broadcast, sparked a strong conjunction: the president, as if repeating the lonely backdrop after De Gaulle's resignation in the 1960s, hidden signs of an era of contempt appeared.
The day before, the fifth prime minister appointed by him, Sébastien Lecornu, failed to maintain the cabinet for more than 24 hours and announced his resignation, plunging the French political world into deeper chaos.
To delay the crisis, Macron gave Le Corneau two days to make a final attempt against the opposition, but the symbolism of the “backwater war” is more than substantial. As the path left to Macron is short: either to dissolve Congress, risk re-election by the far right, or directly resign – an option he has repeatedly denied and now seems to be approaching him.
“Golden Boy” becomes an orphan.
In the past year, four prime ministers have fallen and remained in office day and night only. French poll agency Elabe released data on Monday showed that 49% of French citizens believe the current political impasse should be Macron’s responsibility; 51% believe his resignation might be a break.
Even more shockingly, this view has gone beyond the far-right populist camp. French National League MP Philippe Ballard shouted directly on social media: “Macron has fallen into isolation, without direction, without support, and must make a choice – either resign or dissolve.”
Potential successors, who have already been gearing up for the 2027 general election, have also begun to keep a distance from the president in order not to be dragged down by the political quagmire. Macron is becoming a negative political asset that is unprofitable to allies.
One wrong bet, you lose everything
The roots of the current crisis can be traced back to 2024.Macron plotted to suddenly announce the dissolution of the parliament, with the intention to use it to solidify the ruling camp, but resulted in a seriously divided parliamentary pattern: the middle, right and left are three-foot, uncompromising.
In order to preserve his legacy of economic reform-including tax cuts and pension system reform-Macron tried to unite the right-wing Republican Party and the middle forces to form a "common platform" to successively change prime ministers to maintain a minority government. However, on issues such as budget cuts and fiscal deficits, it has been difficult to obtain an effective majority, and the two prime ministers have been defeated.
On the evening of October 5, Bruno Retailleau, a right-wing blockbuster, publicly criticized Lecornu's newly formed cabinet, which caused the "common platform" to collapse completely. Macron's attempt to regain right-wing support and hope that Lecornu can restart the dialogue is almost futile.
The extreme right is moving, the left refuses to compromise.
With the disintegration of the centrist alliance, if Macron wants to continue to hold power, he has only two options: one is to turn to the left; the other is to risk a confrontation with the extreme right.
But the quid pro quo offered by the left-wing Socialist Party is hardly acceptable: restoring the tax on the rich and overturning the pension reform. This runs counter to Macron's "pro-business" line, which is equivalent to denying his seven-year policy accumulation. On the other hand, the far-right National League (RN) made a quick move: the party leader Marine Marine Le Pen made a high-profile call for the immediate dissolution of parliament and the launch of new elections. Polls show that the National League is currently in the leading position in voting tendencies.
Analyst Stewart Chau noted: “The National League is taking the opportunity of the collapse of the mediators to consolidate the protests and see this dissolution as a historic opportunity to seize power.”
Do you want a de Gaulle ending?
The “Macron should resign” argument, which once belonged only to marginalized politicians, is now gradually entering the mainstream conservative expression. Cannes Mayor and far-right star David Lisnard called on social media to “end this impasse by calling for Macron to set a resignation time to preserve the national system.”
Macron still insists that he will fulfill his presidency until 2027. However, at present, there is no parliamentary foundation and no joint partners. In the context of dilemma, although the possibility of emulating Charles de Gaulle's voluntary leave is not explicitly spoken, it begins to emerge in the code words of media and politics.
France in 2025 is entering the moment of presidential "shadow governance". Although power exists, it no longer has the effect of integrating. Just like the lonely shadow of the Seine River in the early morning, the end of a political cycle may be quietly approaching.