The President of France initiates discussions with the far-right faction to address the eight-week stalemate in government following the recent snap election.
Marine Le Pen has issued a stern warning to Emmanuel Macron, stating that she will oppose any Left-wing prime minister appointed to break the current political deadlock.
France has been without a prime minister and government for eight weeks after the president called for snap legislative elections. Last Friday, leaders of the Left-wing coalition, which secured the most seats in the July elections, expressed their satisfaction with the initial consultations to form a new government.
Their proposed leader, Lucie Castets, announced her readiness to govern. On Monday, the far-right National Rally (RN) also met with President Macron to discuss the situation.
Although Macron has since dismissed Castets as a candidate for prime minister, Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, leaders of the RN, made it clear they would not cooperate with the four-party Left-wing coalition.
A threat to public order
“The New Popular Front, with its agenda, movements, and the figures who represent it, poses a threat to public order, civil peace, and the nation’s economic stability,” Bardella, president of the RN, declared.
“We want our voters to be heard and respected, but we also aim to protect the country from a government that is dividing French society.”
Vote of no confidence
Speaking to the press outside the Elysée, Le Pen and Bardella threatened to introduce a vote of no confidence if the president appoints a prime minister from the Left, which they consider a "threat to public order."
Over the weekend, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical Left party France Unbowed (LFI), suggested that the New Popular Front (NFP)—comprising the Greens, Socialists, and Communists—withdraw from the coalition if it meant taking power. Mélenchon is regarded as too extreme by many in the Centre and on the Right.
However, Le Pen asserted that her party would oppose any Leftist government, with or without the LFI, whom she described as the group’s puppet master.
“It makes no difference,” Le Pen stated on Monday. “The New Popular Front is controlled by France Unbowed, and the most brutal, violent, and outrageous elements are the ones imposing their will… it’s France Unbowed, and it’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon who’s really in charge of this coalition.”
In a letter to members of Macron’s Ensemble group, after the president met with the RN, outgoing prime minister Gabriel Attal also criticized Mélenchon’s suggestion of an NFP government without France Unbowed, calling it an “attempted power grab” disguised as a “pretense of openness.”
“What Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposes is merely a façade—removing a name but leaving everything else unchanged. This is unacceptable,” Attal wrote. “A vote of no confidence would be inevitable, and the responsibility would lie with those who believe they can govern alone without compromise.”
He then called for a meeting with parliamentary party leaders, excluding both France Unbowed and the RN.
Mélenchon responded by accusing Attal of hypocrisy.
“Attal accuses me of a ‘power grab.’ But I’m not fooled. I’m just a pretext for another maneuver,” he tweeted. “In short: Attal is pushing Macron out. If there’s any real coup, this is it.”
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