Political disaster or regime disaster, the Fifth Republic is faltering | EUROtoday

Are we nonetheless within the V^e Republic? Some former prime ministers, like Jean Castex (2020-2022), for instance, could be involved by the flip that constitutional follow is taking. “We’re coming back to the IV^e Republicworries one of them, requesting anonymity. But, at least, under IV^eif the president of the council changed, a certain ministerial continuity prevailed…”

In 2024, France has had four governments. As often happened under the III^e (1870-1940) and IV^e Republics (1946-1958), renowned for executive instability. Above all, the head of state, the “keystone” of the V^e Republic, seems to be losing control. It was at the end of a bitter standoff, on December 13, 2024, that François Bayrou imposed himself on Emmanuel Macron. And the new prime minister immediately positioned himself at a presidential level, assuming not to take into account the recommendations of the head of state.

“The relationship between the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic works well under the V^e Republic when there is a clear imbalance between the two”recalls Julien Jeanneney, professor of public law at the University of Strasbourg: either in favor of the head of state, or in favor of the prime minister during a period of cohabitation. However, since 2022, and especially since 2024, “the risk is that both will want to be the boss”, he continues, doubting that a balance is “easy to find between the two”. The political configuration is “completely new”he notes, finding himself somewhere in between: neither president reinforced by a majority, nor cohabitation.

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