Reuters and Europa Press

The newspaper La Jornada
Saturday, August 17, 2024, p. 24

Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday called on party leaders from both parliamentary chambers to hold talks on August 23 to name a new prime minister.

The objective of next Friday’s meetings with the presidents of the party groups in the National Assembly and the Senate is build the broadest and most stable majority possible to serve the countryMacron’s office said in a statement.

In the legislative elections, the French expressed their desire for change and a broad consensus. In a spirit of responsibility, all political leaders must work to put this desire into practice.The statement added that the appointment of a new prime minister would be possible after these talks, although there was still no specific date for the announcement.

Macron had set out to name a prime minister by mid-August but has so far ignored the candidate from the New Popular Front, who came first in the vote.

After elections on July 7 resulted in an indecisive National Assembly and a blow to the French president’s centrist coalition, the government of outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal led France through the Paris Olympics in a caretaker capacity.

The decision is in the hands of the National Assembly

In the elections, Macron’s allied parties lost their majority. The victory went to the left-wing New Popular Front, but the debate on the formation of the future government was paralysed by the holding of the summer World Cup and has not been resumed until now.

The president is not obliged to accept the proposals of the parties (the left proposed the economist Lucie Castets to be the next prime minister), but any option must be endorsed by the National Assembly, reported the Europa Press agency.