France: Macron Rules Out Left-Wing Government

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Facts

  • French Pres. Emmanuel Macron announced Monday his refusal to appoint as prime minister Lucie Castets from the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) coalition, which has about a third of the seats in the National Assembly.[1][2]
  • This comes as the leaders of the right-wing National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, warned Macron that a vote of no confidence would be put forward if he installed a leftist government.[3][4]
  • On Tuesday, the French president met independent legislators to start a new round of talks, which will continue with meetings with conservative figures and the center-right Republicans. Communists, Greens, and Socialists have rejected new talks, while the RN and the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) weren't invited.[5][6][7]
  • LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has threatened to impeach Macron if he doesn't install a leftist government, and there have been calls for protests next week — including for a 'big mobilization' Sept. 7 — as Paris is set to host the Paralympics Games.[3][8][7]
  • Seven weeks after the snap election called after Macron's centrist Ensemble (Together) lost the June EU elections, France remains under the caretaker government of Gabriel Attal. Pressure to install the next government has mounted ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline to present the 2025 draft budget law.[9][10][11]
  • Under French law, the president is solely responsible for naming a prime minister and has no obligation to choose someone from the largest group. He faces no legal deadline, and parliament can't bring down the caretaker government in the meantime.[12][13]

Sources: [1]Euronews, [2]Guardian, [3]Breitbart, [4]The Telegraph, [5]France 24, [6]Reuters, [7]Associated Press, [8]BBC News, [9]Financial Times, [10]POLITICO, [11]Daily Mail, [12]Al Jazeera and [13]Bloomberg.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Le Monde.fr. The leftist bloc may have agreed on Castets as its candidate for prime minister, but Macron has a constitutional duty to ensure the stability of the country. If he were to appoint Castets, all the other groups would form a majority to vote a motion of no-confidence against her government — and that's definitely not what institutional stability looks like.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Jacobin. Macron and his centrist allies are still in denial, but that doesn't change the fact that the French people have given a clear mandate to the NFP. Therefore, Macron's moves to deny the largest alliance its chance to form a new government and instead retain power through covert plots indicate his undemocratic disregard for the popular vote.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Spectator (UK). Macron is playing the most-voted party, National Rally, and the largest group, the NFP, for fools in a desperate power grab after his camp suffered a massive defeat in legislative elections. As he does this, he also denies democracy and undermines the republic's institutions and the sovereignty of the people.

Predictions