Emmanuel Macron takes stock of a nightmarish 2024

The French president has endured a disastrous year, with his efforts to stave off multiple crises blowing up in his face left, right and centre.

Transcript

00:00French President Emmanuel Macron will not remember the year 2024 with great memories

00:06as it was one of the toughest years of his time in office with ever-challenging political

00:10and economic difficulties.

00:12After his party suffered a loss in the June European elections where Marine Le Pen's National

00:16Rally Party took a strong lead with 32% of the votes, he decided to dissolve the French

00:21Parliament and call for snap elections.

00:24Unfortunately for Macron, these elections gave the far-right and far-left parties even

00:29more power, leaving his centrist coalition weaker and isolated.

00:34In an unexpected move, he then appointed Michel Barnier, a former European Union negotiator,

00:39as his prime minister in July.

00:41This move was intended to bring stability to his government but instead, it alienated

00:45some of his moderate supporters and strengthened opposition leaders including Le Pen.

00:50Macron's refusal to choose a prime minister from newly powerful left-wing bloc New Popular

00:54Front created more political impasse.

00:58By December, just after three months, overstalled reforms and budget issues, Barnier's government

01:03faced a no-confidence vote and lost with a clear majority.

01:07This made it the shortest administration in the history of the Fifth Republic that began

01:11in 1958 and the first successful no-confidence vote since Georges Pompidou's government

01:17in 1962 when Charles de Gaulle was president.

01:21Macron will remain as president but so does the uncertainty of the 2025 budget as France

01:26faces a growing public deficit.

01:29And new parliament elections cannot be held before July 2025 which further narrows Macron's

01:34options.