(12 June 2024) If nothing else, French president Emmanuel Macron is a risk-taker. After his party’s stunning defeat in Sunday’s European parliamentary election at the hands of the right wing National Rally party, Macron has called a snap legislative election in France. The first round of the election will be held on June 30, with the final run-off set for July 7. Macron’s decision to hold the election is an attempt to undermine the rising strength of the “far right” National Rally under the leadership of Marine Le Pen. By holding the election two years ahead of schedule, Macron is gambling that the average French voter will reject the policies of the untried National Rally and return to Macron’s more stable and predictable Renaissance party.
Certainly, there is no shortage is difficulty in Macron’s horoscope at this time. The transits for Sunday’s election featured a T-square of Moon-Mars-Pluto which aligned almost exactly with Macron’s Ascendant at 5 Capricorn. Moreover, Mars (6 Aries) was conjunct the 4th house cusp indicating disruption of the status quo and personal aggravation. Transiting Rahu (18 Pisces) was conjunct his natal Ketu within one degree as the nodes are forming a semi-return this summer in his chart. Nodal returns and semi-returns tend to coincide with periods of upheaval and change. Saturn (24 Aquarius) forms a square aspect to his natal Venus (28 Scorpio) in the 11th house. Since Venus is tenanted in the 11th house of gains, the tense Saturn influence would tend to prevent or delay career advancement. While still three degrees from exact, this square aspect is nonetheless close enough to have an impact due to the slowing velocity of Saturn ahead of its retrograde station on June 29.
In addition, transiting Neptune (5 Pisces) is exactly square his Sun-Mercury conjunction at 5-6 Sagittarius. Hard aspects involving the Sun and Neptune are often negative, and are associated with a decline in vitality and an erosion of self-confidence. For their part, Mercury-Neptune aspects typically symbolize confusion and absence of clear thinking. That could well undermine his decision-making process in calling for this risky election. If Macron’s party loses again here, it would greatly strengthen the National Rally and could make France largely ungovernable until the next presidential election in 2027.
Looking ahead to the first round of the election on June 30, Macron again has to confront some significant Mars energy. Mars (21 Aries) will be conjunct his natal Moon and opposite Uranus. This is not a good placement for winning an election. At the same time, it may not translate into an immediate loss either since Mars-Moon conjunctions denote times of intensity and stress, and don not necessarily indicate any particular outcome. However, the ongoing affliction of Saturn to Venus and Neptune to the Sun and Mercury are still mostly negative influences for Macron and argue against a major political victory. Moreover, Neptune is due to station retrograde on July 2 — just three days after the vote. A stationary Neptune is even more malefic when it forms square aspects with the Sun and Mercury. The Rahu-Ketu conjunction will also remain in close enough range that it may undermine the status quo. And it should be said that the Mercury-Pluto alignment with the Ascendant also looks unhelpful.
The transit alignment of Venus to Neptune and Pluto offers a ray of hope, however, as these are clearly favourable influences. However, they do not seem to be sufficient to outweigh the other mostly difficult alignments at this time. A setback is therefore very possible in the first round of the legislative election.
The July 7 run-off election chart has its own problems. On election night when the votes have been counted, the Moon will conjoin Mercury (14 Cancer), just three degrees away from natal Mars (17 Cancer). As with most Mars conjunctions, this is a high-tension alignment, even if it is less negative than the square or opposition. But the additional problem here is that the Moon-Mercury conjunction will align closely with transiting Rahu (16 Pisces). The resulting multi-planet alignment will focus a stronger negative influence on natal Mars at 17 Cancer. And it should be noted that Mars rules his 11th house of gains and thus is a very important planet when considering elections. Taken together, these Mars-centered alignments suggest Macron is likely to lose the run-off election on July 7.
The transit of the Sun (22 Gemini) with his natal Moon, Pluto and Neptune could offset some of the negativity but it is may not be sufficient to produce a positive outcome. Also in the plus column is that retrograde Saturn will now be separating from its square with Venus. This could diminish some of the heaviness and blocked progress in the chart, but it is unclear how much benefit Macron could derive from this improvement in the condition of Saturn.
Overall, there are enough negative transits over the next several weeks to suggest that Macron’s gamble will not pay off and that the rival National Rally will win the election. We should also note the possibility of an alternative outcome. It is possible that these difficult placements could manifest a marginal electoral win that could see Macron’s party hold onto power but with a diminished majority that weakens him politically. Either way, the planets are such that Macron is unlikely to significantly benefit from this snap election call.
