France's new president, Emmanuel Macron, told parliament in a ceremonial address on Monday that he would seek direct approval from voters in a referendum if parliament failed to sign off his intended institutional reforms quickly enough.
Elected only two months ago by a substantial majority, Macron told the lawmakers of both houses — summoned especially to the Palace of Versailles — that he wanted to cut the number of lawmakers by a third, curb the executive's role in naming magistrates, and introduce a "dose" of proportional representation.
Macron's upstart Republic on the Move (LREM) party has secured a comfortable majority in the National Assembly — but France's youngest leader since Napoleon made clear his impatience to complete the reshaping of the political landscape that he has begun.