The spectacular collapse of the Lecornu government signals that the center of French politics has folded under pressure. President Emmanuel Macron’s ambitious project to build a dominant, pragmatic centrist force is now in tatters, a victim of the very polarization it sought to overcome.
Macron’s political identity was built on the idea of a vital center, a “radical centrism” that could draw the best ideas from both left and right to forge a modern path for France. His party, and the governments it produced, were supposed to be the embodiment of this new way.
However, the political ground has shifted. The center has been squeezed from both sides by a resurgent and uncompromising left and right. In this new landscape, Macron’s centrism is no longer seen as a bridge, but as an isolated island. The “largely unchanged” cabinet was seen as a product of this isolated, out-of-touch center.
The unified rejection of the government by all other political forces was a demonstration that the center can no longer hold. It lacks the allies and the ideological appeal to build a sustainable coalition. The center did not just bend; it folded completely, unable to withstand the pressure from the political poles.
Lecornu’s resignation is the white flag of this centrist project. It is a tacit admission that the grand ambition of transcending the old divides has failed. The political field is now defined by the very forces Macron sought to render obsolete, leaving his project, and his presidency, in ruins.
