France is tonight bracing for yet another round of riots, after president Emmanuel Macron refused to appoint a left-wing prime minister from the election-winning coalition.
After his Ensemble coalition lost a majority in the country’s European Unions elections in June before nearly losing the presidency in July, Macron has been forced to compromise with his new coalition partners.
But the 46-year-old has refused to appoint a new Prime Minister for almost two months, after the parliamentary elections failed to produce a majority party in the National Assembly. Left-wing coalition the New Popular Front (NFP) emerged from the vote as the largest bloc, but still falls well short of an absolute majority.
Macron’s refusal to appoint their candidate, civil servant Lucie Castets, a 35-year-old London School of Economics graduate, has infuriated the Left, who have promised to run riot in France.
French cops up and down the country are set to be on high alert following the news, with a security source telling MailOnline: ‘Thousands of officers will be on duty, including ones belonging to anti-riot units.’
Macron (pictured) has been forced to compromise with his new coalition partners
France is tonight bracing for yet another round of riots (File image)
Macron ruled out naming a left-wing government, saying it would be a ‘threat to institutional stability’.
Instead, he called on ‘all political leaders to rise to the occasion by demonstrating a spirit of responsibility’.
Macron’s office said that it would be pointless to name a NFP government as it would immediately be rejected by a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The president called on the socialists, ecologists and communists in the leftist alliance to ‘cooperate with other political forces’, in an apparent attempt to lure the more moderate members of the coalition away from the hard-left LFI.
But on Tuesday, Socialist party boss Olivier Faure refused Macron’s overture, saying he would ‘not be an accomplice to a parody of democracy’.
Socialist deputies would back a no-confidence motion against any government that was not put forward by the NFP, he said, accusing the president of seeking to ‘prolong Macronism’ despite losing the National Assembly election.
Macron’s refusal to appoint their candidate, civil servant Lucie Castets, a 35-year-old London School of Economics graduate, (pictured) has infuriated the Left
Participants wave French national tricolours during an election night rally following the first results of the second round of France’s legislative election at Place de la Republique in Paris on July 7, 2024
‘French people will start to get annoyed, to say the least,’ Faure warned, saying he would take part in street protests, after Communist party leader Fabien Roussel – who also rejected new talks with Macron – called for a ‘grand popular mobilisation’.
‘The left is being robbed of this election,’ said Green Party chief Marine Tondelier.
Castets accused Macron of seeking to be ‘president, prime minister and party leader all at the same time’, adding that this was ‘not respectful of French voters or of democracy’.
LFI founder Jean-Luc Melenchon even threatened to start impeachment proceedings against Macron.
Members of the president’s camp say that Macron did not expect the leftist bloc to resist his efforts to split them.
‘Macron underestimates the left, a lot,’ said one presidential ally, not wishing to be identified.
A member of the caretaker government added that Macron’s advisors were perhaps not very well informed about the inner workings of the NFP.
People gathered during an election night event following the first results of the second round of France’s legislative election at Republique Square in Paris, France, on July 7, 2024
People gathered in Place de la Republique, Paris, France, on July 7, 2024, after the results of the second round of the 2024 legislative elections
‘Macron doesn’t have enough leftists around him. They’re all gone,’ the minister said, also asking not to be named.
The far-right RN was not invited to Tuesday’s talks, which kicked off with Macron meeting a group of independent deputies.
On Wednesday, he will see representatives from Les Republicains, a centre-right party, and a number of other conservative figures.
Meanwhile Francois Bayrou, a highly respected veteran centrist, chided the president for getting bogged down in party negotiations, which he said was ‘the wrong method’.
Instead, he said, Macron should seek out a candidate with experience of high office.
‘There are people who have held the office of president,’ he said, ‘others who had high government positions’ or ‘who have represented political movements and currents’.
Macron’s office has not given any indication about the president’s timetable for naming a prime minister – but the clock is running to October 1, the legal deadline by which a government must present a draft budget law for 2025.
Macron is also scheduled to open the Paris Paralympic Games on Wednesday, and is expected in Serbia on Thursday for an official visit.
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