(London = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Ji-yeon = Speculation is growing that European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde (70) will return to French politics after announcing her early resignation in February next year.
At a press conference after the ECB monetary policy meeting on the 29th (local time), Governor Lagarde said, “I want to have freedom of speech, expression, and participation unrelated to monetary policy.”
He also said, “I cannot comfortably be in a neutral position at the moment. I am interested in the truth, and I see that the truth is too often undermined, contradicted and misunderstood.”
These remarks are being interpreted as not hiding the possibility of returning to French politics.
From 2007 to 2011, Governor Lagarde served as Minister of Economy and Finance, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Minister of Trade as a member of then-President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right ruling party, the Union for Popular Movements (UMP, predecessor to the current Republican Party).
Bloomberg News pointed out that given that the people being considered as President Lagarde's successor are all from 'orthodox' central banks, it can be seen how unusual it was for Prime Minister Lagarde, a former politician with no such experience, to become President of the ECB in 2019.
Meanwhile, there have been constant speculations that President Lagarde will resign early and move to head the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos) or participate more directly in the French presidential election in April or May next year.
President Lagarde previously said that a "pro-European voice" was needed in the French presidential election, but did not mention that she would run for president until the 29th, when she announced her early resignation.
Bloomberg News pointed out that the possibility of President Lagarde more actively intervening in French domestic discourse, whether as chair of the WEF or by participating more directly in the election, is higher than ever.
Former Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said, “Christine knows that the situation in France is about to get difficult,” and predicted, “She has the ability and expertise to participate and play some role in the coming weeks and months.”
Following the announcement of Lagarde's resignation, French President Emmanuel Macron said, "I express my deep gratitude to her for her commitment to Europe and her resolute actions at the ECB."
Rep. Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a member of the far-right National Rally (RN), harshly criticized it, saying, “I knew that would happen,” and calling it “another insult to our direction.”
The current ECB president, who is relatively old at 70 years old, has continued to be rumored to run for president due to the fact that France's mainstream centrist political camp is having difficulty gathering momentum even half a year before the presidential election.
According to opinion polls, RN's Marine Le Pen is currently the strongest candidate, and the prevailing view is that Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) will come in second place in the first round of voting and advance to the runoff election.
According to the survey results released by Politico and Cluster 17 on the 26th, Le Pen was expected to come in first and second place in the first round of voting, with 33% and Mélenchon with 18.5%. In the centrist camp, former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, leader of Orijon, had only 16%, and Raphael Glücksman, of the center-left Plaspublik, had only 13%.
Reuters reported that the causes include a lack of energy in the election campaign of former Prime Minister Philippe, the standard-bearer of the centrist camp, voter fatigue as President Macron nears the end of his second term in office, and the fact that France's social and security situation is on the brink.
Philippe Morochebrolet of the Paris School of Political Science (Sciencespo) said, “There is panic because there is no planned scenario (in the centrist camp),” and “I would not have thought that a catastrophe of this magnitude would occur.”
In addition, the rivalry between former Prime Minister Philippe and former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of the center-right ruling party Renaissance, and the division of the pan-centrist camp, including Glücksmann of Plaspublik and Bruno Letaino of the Republican Party, are also pointed out as one of the main causes.
Perrin Goulet, a member of the ruling center-right Democratic Movement, pointed out, "Both (Philippe and Attal) should put aside themselves and find the best candidate," and added, "If we leave Glücksmann on one side and Letaio on the other, an 'RN vs. LFI' runoff will be inevitable."
