French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to appoint the NFP candidate Lucie Castets as prime minister, leaving France without a government seven weeks after the election. Image source: Faces Of The World, via Flickr.
French President Emmanuel Macron has refused to appoint a prime minister from the left-wing coalition that won the most parliamentary seats in last month’s election.
The 7 July election has left France without a government for seven weeks and divided the Assemblée Nationale into three factions — the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), Macron’s centrist bloc, and the far-right National Rally (RN).
None of the three groups hold the required 289 out of 577 seats to form a majority government.
With more votes than any other faction, NFP leaders have asserted France’s next prime minister should be selected from their ranks.
The NFP has put forward civil servant Lucie Castets, who is not associated with any political party, as their candidate for the role.
Macron shot down the proposal of a leftist government on Monday 26 August following a weekend of talks with party and parliamentary leaders, including RN’s Marie Le Pen.
He claimed, “Such a government would immediately have a majority of more than 350 MPs against it, effectively preventing it from acting.”
“My responsibility is to ensure that the country is neither blocked nor weakened.”
The left-wing alliance met Macron’s announcement with anger and calls for his impeachment.
Leaders within the NFP said on Tuesday that their parties will not participate in further talks to end France’s political deadlock.
Socialist party president Olivier Faure told France 2 television that he would “not be an accomplice to a parody of democracy”.
Green party secretary Marine Tondelier told local radio, “This election is being stolen from us.”
“We’re not going to continue these sham consultations with a president who doesn’t listen anyway… and is obsessed with keeping control,” said Tondelier.
“He’s not looking for a solution, he’s trying to obstruct it.”
France Unbowed (LFI) — the largest party in the NFP — released a statement on Monday saying, “[The president of the republic] does not recognise the result of universal suffrage, which placed the New Popular Front at the top of the polls.”
“He refuses to appoint Lucie Castets as prime minister,” the statement said.
“Under these conditions, the motion of impeachment will be presented by LFI MPs.
“Any proposal for a prime minister other than Lucie Castets will be subject to a motion of censure.”
On Tuesday, NFP leaders called on their supporters to hold peaceful protests against Macron on 7 September.
The president’s office has not set a deadline for Macron to announce a new prime minister — however, the legal deadline for the government to present a draft budget law for 2025 is set for 1 October.
