The reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, five years after it was devastated by fire, was supposed to be Emmanuel Macron’s triumph.

The French president has often used the reconstruction of Notre-Dame as a parable of his own fate, repeating that he was ridiculed in 2019 when he promised to rebuild it in five years and that, defying skeptics, he got the job done.

He did it again in a televised speech Thursday, telling the country that the reopening of Notre-Dame was “proof that we can do great things, we can do the impossible” and adding: “We must do the same for the nation.”

But as he welcomes more than 35 world leaders on Saturday to the beautifully restored masterpiece of Gothic architecture, Macron will remain among the ashes of the French political landscape, with no easy way to rebuild what was demolished.

In the front rows of the cathedral, next to world leaders such as the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, will be members of his defeated interim government, overthrown this week by an ad hoc alliance of far-right and left-wing lawmakers.

That leaves France, the European Union’s only nuclear power, rudderless just as Russia is on the offensive in its war against Ukraine and Europe is struggling to make its voice heard amid the Sino-American rivalry.

“France’s political instability is a problem, especially because of its influence in Europe,” said Georgina Wright, an analyst at the Montaigne institute, adding that European partners were concerned about France’s contributions in terms of equipment to Ukraine. “It is up to the government to approve defense spending.”

Although Macron has criticized the “cynicism” of far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen and her team for deciding to pull the trigger on a government and leaving France without a budget for next year, critics say he only has the blame

The rebel parliament that decided to topple Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government on Wednesday was the result of Macron’s shock decision to call early elections this summer, a move that was supposed to catch political rivals by surprise but backfired.

Not only did Macron lose his active majority, he gave his archrival Le Pen the power to influence the course of events for the first time since his father founded the National Front, now renamed the National Rally.

“The populist threat does not spare any country,” acknowledged legislator Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, a member of Macron’s party.

“It is increasing everywhere. “Trump is back, the British voted for Brexit, in Germany the far right is getting phenomenal results in some regions,” he told Reuters.

Worst time for diplomacy

Not having a functional government at his side during this weekend’s celebrations will not only be an embarrassment for photo opportunities, it means Macron will be severely restricted in the inevitable diplomatic discussions that will take place on the sidelines.

Macron hopes to hold meetings with Trump and, perhaps, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has been invited but has not confirmed his attendance, diplomatic sources said. But there is little he can promise the two leaders without a budget for next year.

Before Wednesday’s no-confidence vote, his defense minister, Sebastien Lecornu, warned that a lack of budget would prevent a planned 3.3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) increase in France’s military spending.

As Trump has made strong calls for Europe to shoulder more of the cost of the war in Ukraine and Zelenskiy has urged intensified efforts to prevent his country from collapsing, the hole in the heart of Macron’s administration could not reach in the worst moment.

In Thursday’s national address, the French president said he would name a new prime minister “in the coming days.” has told Reuters that he wants to act quickly, unlike in the summer, when he waited two months before appointing Barnier.

However, there is no clear path to a more stable government, and any new prime minister would have to deal with the same non-consensus parliament until at least July, the earliest the constitution allows new elections to be called.

In the halls of parliament, Macron’s allies want to believe that their leader will defy the skeptics and find a way to rebuild the country’s standing during his remaining 30 months in office, as he did with Notre-Dame.

“It showed that we are capable of rebuilding,” Prisca Thevenot, a former spokesperson for Macron’s government, told Reuters. “We really have no choice,” he said.

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