Can France’s New President Create a Brand-New Party?
Macron's fledgling party doesn't want to seem part of the establishment—but it will need support from traditional parties' voters to wield power.
It looked like a coup for French President-elect Emmanuel Macron ’s new party, Republic on the Move. On May 9, Manuel Valls, a former prime minister under outgoing Socialist President François Hollande, announced he would join its ranks as a parliamentary candidate.
But a day later, Republic on the Move officials said they wouldn’t have him. It was a remarkable political put-down, especially since Macron served in Hollande’s government. But it highlights the formidable challenge Macron faces as he seeks to convince the voters who elected him to abandon their parties and give Republic on the
