Macron urges republican institutions to form a solid and plural parliamentary majority for France
Afp
The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 11, 2024, p. 25
Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday called on the political forces that identify with republican institutions to build a solid majority in Parliament, after the legislative elections won by the left, although without an absolute majority.
Anyone’s wonMacron said in his first statement since the elections held on Sunday, in a letter to the people published in the French regional press.
The centrist leader dissolved the National Assembly and called early legislative elections after the French far-right won the European elections on June 9.
I call on all political forces that identify with republican institutions, the rule of law, parliamentarism, the European orientation and the defence of French independence, to engage in sincere and loyal dialogue to build a solid, necessarily plural, majority for the country.wrote Macron.
No party or coalition obtained an absolute majority of 289 deputies in the new National Assembly.
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came out on top with between 190 and 195 seats, Macron’s centre-right alliance around 160 and the far-right alliance more than 140.
The president’s call appears to be aimed at excluding the National Rally (RN) of the far-right Marine Le Pen, but also implicitly the NFP’s main party, La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left), led by the controversial Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which has caused reluctance among other forces.
“Macron is proposing a cordon sanitaire for LFI, which he himself helped to get elected three days ago (…). This circus is becoming shameful,” Le Pen reacted via the X platform.
The left-wing alliance is seeking to propose a new prime minister, but a large part of the president’s party refuses to support a government that includes figures from the radical left.
Mélenchon is pushing the lesser-known MP Clémence Guetté, who is popular with radical left activists. At 33, she offers a less divisive and calmer image.
The more moderate socialist leader Olivier Faure also showed himself willing to take on the position.
