French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday evening that he would not appoint a government led by the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP), despite the alliance’s victory in snap parliamentary elections nearly two months ago.
The NFP – made up of the far-left France Unbowed, the Socialists, the Communists and the Greens – has nominated civil servant Lucie Castets as its candidate for prime minister, but is almost 100 seats short of a majority.
GreenLeft leader Marine Tondelier called Macron’s announcement a disgrace and said he ignored the election results. France Unbowed faction leader Mathilde Panot even threatened Macron with impeachment proceedings.
Macron argued that a left-wing government would only lead to instability, as it would face fierce resistance from other parties and could quickly be overthrown by a vote of no confidence.
“It is my responsibility that the country is not blocked or weakened,” Macron said in a statement.
He called on the socialists, greens and communists of the NFP to “work with other political forces” to form a government. He did not mention France Unbowed, which mainstream parties see as equally dangerous as the far right.
In a new attempt to break the deadlock, Macron said he would start a new round of talks with the main political parties on Tuesday. He had already met with several parties late last week and on Monday.
Macron’s centrist faction, which came second in the election, would like to see some kind of grand coalition of more moderate parties.
The president indicated that his talks with various centre-right and centre-left parties had revealed possible coalition formations.
