France’s leftwing coalition had a serious chance to change the country. It blew it | Alexander Hurst

The right's Michel Barnier is now PM - and the NFP must share the blame for failing to unite behind a plausible candidate

My friend Guillaume recently hit on a perfect analogy for French politics: in a scene fromSuccession, Logan Roy's children ask him why he is putting them through so much misery, and why he won't just turn his company over to them. To which the surly CEO says: I love you, but you are not serious people."

The beauty of the Fifth Republic's institutions is how flexible they are. When there is a clear majority, the system is presidential. When there's not, it's parliamentary. Except, a parliament with no clear majority requires serious people willing to do the difficult work of forming a coalition that is able to govern. And unfortunately, France's collection of leftwing parties were unable to be serious about what governing entails.