Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 34
French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out naming a prime minister from the leftist New Popular Front alliance and will instead start a new round of consultations on Tuesday with parties to try to form a new government, Macron’s office said.
Realising a government led by the New Popular Front (NFP) would immediately face a no-confidence vote in parliament from all other parties, Macron will confer with party heads and political leaders, the statement said on Monday. The NFP is a broad alliance of parties ranging from the moderate Socialists to Jean-Luc Melenchon’s far-left France Unbowed.
Castets told Macron on Friday that the left is entitled to form the next government. The Elysee statement came after the New Popular Front said it would not take part in any new consultations unless it was to discuss Castets’ nomination.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the political tag team that runs the National Rally, met with Macron on Monday. After their one-hour meeting, Bardella said the NFP was a “danger” for the country.
It remains to be seen who Macron will turn to. The eventual name, someone with the broadest possible appeal, will still need to win approval from lawmakers, and if they say no, Macron will have to go back to the drawing board. Macron had until now ignored the New Popular Front’s nomination, and a source close to him said he believed the balance of power lies more with the centre or centre-right.
Some possible candidates that Macron is mulling include a conservative regional president, Xavier Bertrand, and former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, sources have said.
Source: Reuters
