French Left in Conflict Over Election of New Prime Minister – Euractiv

The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) parties, whose ad hoc coalition defeated the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party in early parliamentary elections, are currently in a dispute over the name of the new prime minister.

More than a week after the second round of the parliamentary elections held on 7 July, in which the NFP party won but fell short of an outright majority, France’s political future remains uncertain.

On Monday evening (15 July), the Socialist Party (PS/S&D), the Greens (Greens/EFA) and the Communist Party (PC/Left) agreed to propose a representative of “civil society” for the position of prime minister, the economist Laurence Tubiana, a former ambassador for the COP21 negotiations in Paris in 2015.

The option was rejected by several select members of the left-wing La France insoumise (LFI/The Left) party, who denounced it as a “Macron-aligned” candidacy, pointing out that Tubiana has frequently been offered a ministerial position since the beginning of President Emmanuel Macron’s term in 2017.

The NFP parties, which managed to put aside their differences in the hours after Macron dissolved parliament on 9 June to form an anti-RN coalition, are now closer to disintegration than ever.

On Monday, LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard condemned the Socialist Party’s (PS) “systematic opposition” to the proposals of the other coalition members, admitting that negotiations were “at an impasse” for now.

The Communist Party (PC) proposed the candidacy of the President of Reunion Island, Huguette Bello, over the weekend. However, the PS opposed it, considering the candidate to be “too radical” and “too close to the LFI”, Media section reported.

Emboldened by strong results in the European and parliamentary elections, the Socialists are seeking to regain leadership of the French left, and some of its members may be open to building a majority in the National Assembly with the left-wing of Macron’s Renew party.

On the other hand, the LFI leaders insist that they want to apply the NFP programme without compromise, even if it means governing “by decree, referendum or obtaining a majority in the National Assembly”, as explained by Val-d’Oise MP Paul Vannier (LFI). The Monde.

On Monday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the historic leader of the LFI, called for “a single candidacy for the presidency of the National Assembly” before resuming discussions on the election of prime minister.

This week marks the end of important deadlines, such as the election of the President of the National Assembly and the official announcement of the composition of parliamentarians of the individual political groups. July 18, followed by the establishment of standing committees on July 20.

In a statement, the LFI also called for “massive participation in all trade union initiatives on Thursday” to condemn what it called Macron’s “forced coup”, while some members of the CGT – Confédération Générale du Travail, France’s largest trade union – called for a demonstration outside the parliament building in Paris.

In a letter to the French people on July 10, Macron asked “political forces that identify with republican institutions” to “build a solid majority,” adding that he would appoint a new prime minister as soon as the parties reached a “compromise.”

The French left has seen this as a denial of democracy, since the prime minister is traditionally a member of the party or coalition that wins the parliamentary elections. But to do so, they need to find a candidate who can gather the unanimous support of all members of the coalition.

(Editing: Anna Martino/Zoran Radosavljevic)

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