France’s President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday he would stay until the “last second” of his second term after a year of domestic political turmoil that included calls for him to resign.
Political deadlock has gripped the country ever since Macron took the gamble of calling snap polls in 2024, leading to him losing his majority and the far right gaining ground in parliament.
The president spoke as his poll ratings were at an all-time low since he first became head of state in 2017.
“I will be at work until the very last second, striving each day to live up to the mandate you entrusted to me,” he said in a televised New Year’s Eve address.
The new year is to be Macron’s last full one in office before the 2027 presidential elections, for which pollsters have predicted a victory for the far right.
“I will do everything I can to ensure the presidential election proceeds as calmly as possible — in particular without any foreign interference,” said Macron, who cannot take part in the vote after serving two consecutive terms.
The country will also go to the polls for municipal elections in March.
Macron kept a high international profile in 2025, including as part of efforts to stem the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
But at home, he has faced criticism even from his former allies.
Macron’s third new prime minister since the snap polls, Sebastien Lecornu, has struggled to push a much-needed austerity budget through the hung parliament.
It had to adopt an emergency law last week to keep the government afloat in the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
“From the very first weeks of the year now starting, government and parliament will have to come to agreements to provide the nation with a budget,” Macron said.
“It is essential.”
