The left-wing parties are to meet on Tuesday afternoon to prepare their response to the head of state’s decision, Fabien Roussel announced. La France Insoumise is already calling for demonstrations on September 7.
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“Illiberal drift”, “denial of democracy”, “shame”…After Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to appoint a government from the New Popular Front (NFP), in the name of “institutional stability”Monday August 26, the left alliance rebelled against what it considers to be a “unacceptable anti-democratic coup”.
While the President of the Republic will be conducting new consultations at the Elysée Palace on Tuesday to find a way out of this political impasse, representatives of the left-wing parties are trying to regain control. “Organisations committed to defending democracy should engage in a joint response”called Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X. Franceinfo summarizes the initiatives and positions of the NFP components.
A refusal to continue discussions with Emmanuel Macron
In his statement rejecting an NFP government on Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron called on socialists, environmentalists and communists to propose “ways to cooperate with other political forces”, without mentioning La France Insoumise. But by the afternoon, all the components of the left-wing alliance had in any case expressed their refusal to continue the discussions at the Elysée, which continue on Tuesday, if the scenario on the table was not an appointment of Lucie Castets.
“I refuse to be an accomplice in a parody of democracy”Olivier Faure hammered home on France 2 on Tuesday morning. “The socialists are being asked to be the auxiliaries of a dying Macronie. The answer for me is simple: it’s no.”insisted the leader of the socialists. “Everything we had to say to him, we have already said to him”added Marine Tondelier on franceinfo. “We are not going to continue this circus”the leader of the environmentalists got carried away.
The left-wing coalition believes that the head of state must “appoint Lucie Castets to Matignon”, and regrets that the president “keep procrastinating” to appoint a Prime Minister.
A call for a “great popular mobilization”
To denounce what she considers to be a “coup de force” by Emmanuel Macron, La France Insoumise calls for mobilization on September 7. LFI joins a call from the unions Union étudiante and Union syndicale lycéenne.
While the other NFP parties have not launched the same call to demonstrate on September 7, several figures from the left-wing alliance have approved the idea of contesting Emmanuel Macron’s choice in the streets. The national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, had mentioned on Monday evening “a great popular mobilization” coming soon. On France Inter Tuesday, the NFP candidate for Prime Minister, Lucie Castets, also called “people to mobilize.” The senior official notably mentioned “mobilizations in community life, in collectives”.
“The left-wing forces will meet this Tuesday afternoon” For “call for rallies”Fabien Roussel clarified on Tuesday morning on France Bleu Nord. “If there are demonstrations, I will participate in these demonstrations,” Olivier Faure also assured. “But I’m not saying that we should set the country on fire and blood.”warned the socialist. “II am not looking for chaos. I am saying that chaos is precisely what the head of state is installing.”
The threat of Emmanuel Macron’s dismissal once again brandished by LFI
The Insoumis, for their part, have once again brandished their threat to initiate impeachment proceedings against the head of state, already agitated in mid-August by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Mathilde Panot and Manuel Bompard, in a column published in The Sunday Tribune. Emmanuel Macron “does not recognize the result of the universal suffrage which placed the New Popular Front at the top of the vote” And “refuses to appoint Lucie Castets as Prime Minister”, reacted LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard on X. “Under these conditions, the motion of dismissal will be presented by the rebellious deputies to the office of the National Assembly in accordance with article 68 of the Constitution.”
But the proposal still does not have unanimous support among the other left-wing parties belonging to the NFP, particularly within the PS. “I am still skepticalconfided Olivier Faure. For a reason that is quite simple: you need two thirds [des voix] in the National Assembly and two thirds [des voix] in the Senate to obtain this impeachment,” justified the first secretary of the PS. “If it is simply to say that we have tabled a motion and then we find that it is rejected, what will we have achieved?”