Even before Macron’s victory, presidents in France had long been referred to as “elected monarchs”—such is the power granted them by the Fifth Republic. And sure enough, no sooner had Macron won than left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose popularity has plummeted since Macron’s victory, called on his supporters to mobilize against the “new presidential monarch.” Faster than anyone expected, the 39-year-old Macron had fulfilled the promise of The Banker Who Wanted To Be King, the title of a biography of the new president published last year.

Since his victory, Macron has wooed the public with an attack on Vladimir Putin at the Palace of Versailles, and drew new fans with his firm handshake with Donald Trump. The handshake, Macron told the Journal du Dimanche afterwards, was “not innocent. ... One must show that we won’t make little concessions, even symbolic ones … I don't let anything go.” (Reports suggest that the aggressive gesture and tough talk that followed may have motivated Trump to take America out of the Paris climate agreement. Pettiness begets pettiness.)

Such theatricality from Macron may, for a time, boost his stature on the world stage and cosmetically filling the void. But when the focus shifts to his domestic policy, particularly his economic plans to deregulate the economy, Macron’s royal posturing will do little to stem the resistance that is expected to rise against him. Securing a powerful majority in today’s legislative election will be an important first step, with some polls predicting a historic landslide. Yet a majority won’t, in itself, pacify his opponents—namely the left: the labor unions and their workers. Macron plans to plow ahead, regardless.

Where others may have recoiled from France’s monarchical infatuation, Macron looks set to embrace it. “I am a warrior. I am a fighter. I have a willingness to act that is consuming me,” he told BFM TV in April. He has already said he will seek to extend the state of emergency for another five months, initially imposed in November 2015 in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and extended five times since. He has also declared his readiness to rule by presidential decree, bypassing parliamentary democracy, “for the sake of speed and efficiency.” He knows first-hand the costs of such a strategy, however. In 2016, Hollande forced through unpopular labor reforms, with Macron’s support, sparking months of sometimes-violent civil unrest and strikes.

With the legislative elections—the third and fourth rounds few are looking forward to—Macron hopes to secure a loyal parliamentary majority that could help obviate such blunt measures. As promised, his candidate list is evenly split between men and women. Over half of them come not from politics, but from “civil society”—which, for Macron, largely seems to mean prosperous, white-collar professionals: private-sector managers, venture capitalists, lawyers, and lobbyists. In keeping with his support base, there’s not a single worker from heavy industry and very few office employees, despite the fact that they represent half of France’s working population.