After his party’s defeat in the July elections, Macron must decide who to nominate for the post of prime minister.
French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out appointing a left-wing government to end the country’s political deadlock, saying it would pose a threat to “institutional stability.”
Macron has been searching for a new prime minister in several rounds of talks since a left-wing alliance won most seats in parliament in the July elections, but not enough to form a government.
After talks on Monday with far-right politician Marine Le Pen and other political leaders, the president rejected the left’s claims to form a government. Since Friday, he has been inviting party leaders to talks in the hope of finding a consensus candidate who will not be immediately ousted by a vote of no confidence.
“My responsibility is to ensure that the country is neither blocked nor weakened,” Macron said in a statement.
In the July election, the 577-seat National Assembly was split between the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance with over 190 seats, Macron’s centrist alliance with around 160 and Le Pen’s Rassemblement National with 140 seats.
The NFP, particularly the radical left-wing France Inseguente (LFI), is demanding its right to form a government. The party argues that since it won the most seats, it must choose the new prime minister. It has chosen 37-year-old Lucie Castets as its candidate.
However, Macron’s party, as well as the conservatives and the extreme right, have announced that they will vote of no confidence in a left-wing government.
A left-wing government “would be immediately censored by all the other groups represented in the National Assembly” and “the institutional stability of our country therefore requires us not to choose this option,” Macron said on Monday.
He added that he would hold talks with party leaders and “personalities who are distinguished by experience in the service of the state and the republic.”
The left-wing LFI reacted angrily; its coordinator Manuel Bompard described Macron’s comments as an “unacceptable, undemocratic coup”.
LFI chairman Jean-Luc Mélenchon posted on X that Macron had created a “situation of exceptional gravity” and called for a “decisive and strong reaction” from the public and politicians.
On Saturday, Mélenchon announced that his party would support a left-wing government led by Castets, but without LFI ministers.
Macron had previously described the LFI as an “extreme movement”, attempting to equate the left-wing extremist group with the far-right Rassemblement National.
The French news portal Le Monde wrote that after Mélenchon’s offer, it would now be more difficult for Macron to justify his exclusion from the NFP.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, said that they did not want to “take part in a show where the dice are loaded against the left”.
Macron has left Gabriel Attal as interim head of government for a record post-war period since the two-round election as he searches for a figure with broad enough support to survive a vote of confidence.
However, with the deadline for presenting the draft budget for 2025 just over a month away, Macron, who has stalled in choosing his candidate, must now decide who to nominate.
