France’s ‘beautiful dream’ fades as Games give way to political crisis

Authors: Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau

PARIS (Reuters) – The Paris Olympics were a stunning summer success that enchanted the world and confirmed French national pride. The hangover will be severe.

Sunday’s closing ceremony put an end to the sporting spectacle, and the president Emmanuel Macron must now deal with the political crisis he created, which he swept under the rug until the end of the Games.

Talk of government jobs and budget cuts is coming, and that is sure to anger voters.

“Now we have to wake up from this beautiful dream,” said Christine Frant, 64, in the Club France fan zone last weekend. “What a shame that we will go back to our daily routine, without a government, arguing in parliament, when here everything was about joy and sharing.”

Macron seemed to cast doubt on the entire fate of the Olympics when he called early parliamentary elections just weeks before the games began. Voters created a hung parliament.

Choosing a prime minister who would be able to satisfy Macron’s centrist camp, the left-wing coalition and the far-right National Rally has proven difficult.

After days of political haggling that yielded no results following the July 7 vote, Macron announced a ceasefire for the duration of the Games, giving himself until mid-August to appoint a prime minister and allow political parties to negotiate.

Mysterious sabotage of rail and telecommunications facilities seemed an ominous sign at the start of the Games, but the event later went ahead without further security concerns.

Macron headed to his presidential residence on the French Riviera, from where he made several visits to Paris, including for a long hug with French judo champion Teddy Riner after winning his fourth career gold.

While many in France were following the fortunes of two ping-pong-playing brothers, the Lebruns, or rooting for swimming star Leon Marchand, French politicians were planning a way out of the crisis.

Now Macron will have to make a decision.

Time to decide

He ignored the candidate carefully endorsed by the left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, which won the election but has so far made no moves to entice other parties to gain a majority.

Despite efforts to boost her image through media interviews, the elected candidate Lucie Castets remains unknown on the political scene.

“Who is she?” said Zahera Dakkar, 40, after watching the volleyball final at Club France. “I didn’t follow politics for two weeks. The Games were a break from all that.”

Castets’ hopes that the left would take over Matignon, the prime minister’s official residence, appear slim. Macron believes the vote was secured by the National Assembly, whose “centre of gravity is in the centre or centre-right,” a source close to him said.

“We need a personality who can talk to the center, the right and the left. From the socially minded right to the left that cares about law and order,” said the source, who declined to be named to discuss the president’s thinking.

Macron’s eventual candidate cannot come across as some kind of subordinate, the source added, and an opposition figure is needed to give the government “a flavour of cohabitation”.

Xavier Bertrand, a former conservative minister in the government of former President Jacques Chirac who has spoken harshly of Macron but worked constructively with his government in his northern region, could fit the bill, the source said.

Bernard Cazeneuve, a former prime minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande who was in office at the time of the 2015 Islamist attacks in Paris, could also be in the running, the source said. The offices of both men did not respond to requests for comment.

BUDGET CHALLENGE

Whoever Macron names will have a difficult task, with parliamentary approval of the 2025 budget at the top of the to-do list at a time when France is under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to cut its deficit.

“If Macron tries to form a right-wing government, he will not get any budget,” said Eric Coquerel, the leftist head of parliament’s finance committee.

Macron’s entourage wants to use the Games, hosted by a centrist president, a Socialist mayor and a conservative regional leader, as an example of what France can do when different sides pull together.

As Senator Laure Darcos told Reuters, his rivals want to ensure that the president is not found guilty.

Although Macron’s domestic situation remains weak, the Games have strengthened his international standing.

Michael Payne, a former IOC marketing chief, said the president was seen abroad as a “successful leader” but believed Macron had made a serious strategic mistake by calling early elections before the Olympics rather than after.

At Club France, where families lined up to take selfies with the Olympic torch or buy stuffed red mascots, it was hard to find anyone who wanted to talk politics.

“Please don’t!” said Frant, wearing a French flag around her neck.

(Reporting by Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau; additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Angus MacSwan)