President Emmanuel Macron is once again at the forefront of the political scene, after the resignation of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, forced by a motion of censure supported last Wednesday by a majority of the National Assembly. Macron continued this Monday with the first round of consultations in search of a commitment to non-censorship among political forces as a preliminary step before appointing a successor to Barnier as head of the Government.
Last Friday, before focusing on celebrating the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral over the weekend, attended by heads of state and government from around the world, Macron held the first three meetings with members of the centrist coalition, with representatives of the Socialist Party (PS) and, finally, with deputies from The Republicans (Michel Barnier’s party).
This Monday it was the turn of environmentalists, communists and representatives of the Liberties, Independents, Ultramar and Territories Group (which brings together 23 deputies from different political families). According to Marine Tondelier, secretary general of the environmentalists, the French president has proposed a “new method” for the election of the prime minister, a “meeting of different political forces to debate a programmatic platform”, a joint negotiation table for the different parties with parliamentary representation with the exception of Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN).
Tondelier stated, at the end of the meeting with Emmanuel Macron, that the president had conveyed to him that “the solution can no longer be based on an agreement with the National Rally.” [partido de Marine Le Pen]”, since the strategy of placing Le Pen in a decisive position had led to the adoption of a motion of censure of Barnier. “[Emmanuel Macron] “He has made it very clear that he did not consider that the National Group was among the parties that wanted to participate in the talks,” he added.
For his part, Fabien Roussel, secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), explained that he had listed to the president the priorities of his group, in particular “the question of purchasing power” and “pensions”, which could be addressed during “ a social conference.”
LFI will not participate
On Friday, the coordinator of France Insoumise, Manuel Bompard, had announced that his party would not go to the Elysée, despite having also received the invitation. “There cannot be any discussion with the head of state other than the appointment of a New Popular Front (NFP) government,” he said in a statement.
The presence of the rest of the leaders of the progressive coalition and the absence of LFI illustrates the differences in position within the NFP. Socialists, environmentalists and communists have changed the discourse with respect to the last round of consultations held in the summer, when the four parties closed ranks regarding the program and the common candidate, Lucie Castets.
A few hours before being received at the Elysée, the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, surprised by stating, in an interview on Franceinfo, that he was willing to discuss with the centrists and even the conservatives on the basis of “reciprocal concessions” to achieve “commitments on all issues.” Including a temporary renunciation of the repeal of the pension reform, another of the blocking points in the negotiations with the left-wing parties in the round of consultations last summer.
Given the instability caused in recent days by the fall of Michel Barnier and the rejection of the budgets, LFI is left alone in its frontal rejection of a negotiation with parties outside the NFP. Shortly after Faure’s interview on Franceinfo, the leader of the rebels, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, reacted on the an agreement and make ‘reciprocal concessions’ to Macron and LR. “Nothing he says or does in our name or in that of the NFP.”
“When Jean-Luc Mélenchon says that he has not given us a mandate to negotiate, it is totally true: I do not receive mandates from him, I speak on behalf of the socialists, in the interest of the country and to try to get out of the institutional blockade,” he responded. Faure leaving the meeting with the president.
The general secretary of the socialists then added that, at the meeting, Macron had not set “any preconditions on any issue” and that the socialists were going to continue demanding the appointment of a “left-wing prime minister”, but on the basis of a “non-censorship agreement.” This agreement should include the guarantee of “not resorting to article 49.3” of the Constitution that allows laws to be approved by decree and the willingness to find “compromise” between the parties that formed a republican front against the extreme right in the last legislative elections.
Name List
However, for the moment the Elysée maintains total silence on the name of the future prime minister. The French media these days evoke an endless list of potential candidates to replace Michel Barnier – who will remain in office until the appointment of his successor – and new names are added every day.
In general terms, these potential candidates can be grouped into four different profiles: that of a center-right politician, along similar lines to Barnier (several French media cited the name of François Bayrou this Monday); that of a social democrat capable of securing the support of a part of the left; that of a conservative from the right wing of the Republicans (the main candidate would be the current Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau) or an independent figure coming from civil society and who has no ties to the world of politics.
Meanwhile, a special law to allow the functioning of the State if, as it seems, the year ends without new budgets – an emergency measure announced by Macron in his televised speech last Thursday – is already prepared, according to what the current president said this Monday. acting finance minister, Laurent Saint-Martin. “We have been working on it for five days, since this Government was censured, to prepare this special law, which we could present in the next Council of Ministers,” he explained.
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