June 23, 2022 21:21
The French opposition rejected on Thursday the idea of participating in a coalition government after President Emmanuel Macron lost his parliamentary majority in the wake of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
“If (President Macron) stays on his project, he will not have an absolute majority, and he will be in a difficult position and will disrupt the wheel of France,” said Socialist MP Valerie Rabeau of the left-wing coalition on Thursday.
Four days after the second round of legislative elections, France is witnessing a state of political uncertainty, forcing Macron, who was re-elected in April for a second presidential term, to search for alliances to get out of the crisis caused by his loss of an absolute majority. This will also contribute to raising questions about his ability to implement his reform project.
The centrist liberal coalition, supporting Macron and which had an absolute majority in the previous National Assembly, won 245 seats out of 577, knowing that the absolute majority is limited to 289 deputies.
The other seats in the National Assembly were divided mainly between the left (about 150 seats), the extreme right (89) and the right (61).
In a speech to the French yesterday evening, Wednesday, the French president acknowledged the existence of “cracks” revealed by the legislative elections, and called on the political class to “learn to govern and legislate differently.”
“I intend and am determined to heed the will for change clearly requested by the country,” he said, referring to case-by-case agreements on legislative texts or a broader coalition.
Macron refused to form a national unity government.
“Of course, the coalition is rejected. Our deputies were elected with a clear mandate by their constituents” to “remain in the opposition,” said Senator for Republicans (right) Bruno Ritaio.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen stressed that “the majority must take the first step to amend its project.”
Source: AFP
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