(Paris) More than a month after the resignation of his government following the legislative elections in July, French President Emmanuel Macron continued laborious political consultations on Monday to finally provide France with a prime minister.
The task looks set to be difficult, in a political France divided into three blocs, none of which has an absolute majority in the Assembly.
The left, which came first in the July legislative elections, is demanding to form a government, and is trying to impose its candidate, the senior civil servant Lucie Castets. But the NFP (New Popular Front) coalition is unanimously against her, from the centre to the right and even the far right, who accuse her of a “dangerous” programme.
A position reiterated on Monday by representatives of the National Rally (RN), the third bloc in the National Assembly. Received Monday morning by Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella indicated at the end of the meeting that they would censure any left-wing government.
On Friday, Mr Macron received representatives from the left, the right and his own camp.
All these consultations are supposed to result in the appointment of a new prime minister to succeed Gabriel Attal, who has been managing day-to-day affairs at Matignon for 41 days now, something never seen since the post-war period.
But the head of state, who had put France under tension by deciding to dissolve the Assembly and organize early legislative elections in the wake of his defeat in the European elections of June 9 – won by the extreme right – seems tempted to play for extra time.
He could speak on Monday evening before new consultations on Tuesday, according to the Élysée.
PHOTO TERESA SUAREZ, ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
French President Emmanuel Macron
In any case, the appointment of a prime minister does not seem imminent, as the Paralympic Games open on Wednesday. President Macron will participate in the opening ceremony, before flying to Serbia on Thursday and Friday.
“Democratic crisis”
The left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP) is furious about the slowness and “manoeuvres” of the head of state.
The communist Fabien Roussel denounced on BFMTV a situation of “democratic crisis”, and the representative of LFI (radical left) Manuel Bompard castigated the “manoeuvres of the President of the Republic to prevent [la gauche] to govern the country.” Before warning that any other prime minister than Mr.me Castets would lead to “censorship” of the new government, “mobilization” in the streets, and “dismissal” of Mr. Macron.
But the NFP, which claims to govern without an absolute majority in the Assembly, is rejected by all the other formations, making the hypothesis of a left-wing government improbable.
Representatives of the presidential camp, the right and the extreme right have been repeating for weeks that they are opposed to any government including ministers from the radical left, but admit that it is the NFP program as a whole, described as “dangerous,” that they reject.
Far to the left, the program includes in particular an increase in the minimum wage, new taxes for the richest and above all a return to the pension reform, a key text of Macron’s second five-year term.
But the alternative hypothesis of a centre-right government also faces numerous obstacles and remains dependent on the abstention of far-right deputies in the Assembly.
The appointment of an executive is, however, urgent, in particular to pass a budget before the end of the year which must in any case be presented before the 1ster october.