National Assembly election: Macron calls on parties to form grand coalition

Following the parliamentary elections in France, President Emmanuel Macron called on the parties to form a grand coalition of all bourgeois parties. A sincere dialogue is necessary to create a solid, multi-party majority for the country, Macron said in a letter to the population published in numerous newspapers.

Macron thus commented for the first time on the outcome of Sunday’s election, in which his center camp was defeated. He rejected the idea of ​​the victorious left-wing alliance forming a government. The new alliance had asked Macron on Tuesday evening to commission it to form a government.

Left alliance alone cannot govern

The alliance of the Greens, Socialists, Communists and the Left Party became the strongest force, but is far from an absolute majority. Without other partners, the alliance would not be able to form a government and could be blocked by the other political camps.

Macron called on the parties to use the solidarity against the right, which had prevented a victory for Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), to form a government. As partners in a grand coalition, Macron wanted parties that recognized the institutions of the Republic and were European-oriented. He did not specify whether this meant excluding the left-wing party La France Insoumise in addition to the eurosceptic RN.

Since the political forces need some time to reach the necessary compromise, the current government will initially remain in office in a caretaker capacity, said Macron. The president has no deadline for appointing a new prime minister.

Left Party and Socialists vie for supremacy

Meanwhile, three days after the election, the parties continued to wrangle over which political camp would form the government in the future. After its surprise victory, the left-wing alliance sounded out who should be proposed as prime minister in the event of a government being formed. No agreement was reached at a night-time meeting of the Socialists and the Left Party, reported the broadcaster France Info. Both parties are vying for dominance in the left-wing alliance.

The Socialists therefore see their party leader Olivier Faure as a suitable candidate. The Left Party spoke out in favor of its MP Clémence Guetté, who already organized the presidential election campaign of Left Party founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon in 2022. The left-wing alliance had entered the parliamentary election without a top candidate and had announced that it would name a candidate for the office of Prime Minister by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.

Are conservatives or socialists flirting with Macron’s camp?

The right-wing nationalist RN already clearly sees itself in the opposition role. Representatives of other parties and currents within the camps, meanwhile, are exploring the possibility of cooperation or coalition in order to gain a majority and thus the possibility of forming a government.

Both the Socialists and the conservative Republicans are examining possibilities for cooperation with Macron’s center-left camp, the broadcaster BFMTV reported. According to the broadcaster, the left wing of the current government bloc is also considering forming a new political camp with former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne as its leader.