Where’s Macron? French president disappears amid election crisis – POLITICO

For the loquacious, daring 46-year-old president, who is forever grabbing the limelight, coming up with new ideas, disrupting the status quo, the new reality is not a comfortable one.

The Elysée bunker

But like a Napoleon forced into exile, Macron has returned to the drawing board and is preparing his next battle: ruling France after what is expected to be a resounding defeat on Sunday. The French president may have to enter into a “cohabitation” government with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which is expected to command the largest group in parliament.

Over the past days, Macron has been busy shoring up his influence, appointing several top officials in France and pushing for allies to get key jobs in Brussels, drawing accusations from Le Pen that he was organizing “an administrative coup d’état.”

On Wednesday, the government’s spokesperson announced new appointments in the police and security forces after the weekly Cabinet meeting. Dozens of top military officials have also been appointed in the army, the navy and the air force.

More appointments were expected, but faced with a growing outcry over the administrative reshuffle, the president was forced to scale back his plan. One person familiar with talks at the Elysée ironically called it “a minor backtracking,” according to Playbook Paris.

Ensconced in the Elysée Palace, the president is also gaming next-day scenarios, which includes a sweeping victory for the far right, a hung parliament with the National Rally as its largest group, and a coalition excluding the far right, according to several officials.