France Entered The Phase Of Internal Struggles To Reach Power

The New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing alliance that won France’s early legislative elections, on Tuesday “solemnly” warned President Emmanuel Macron about keeping Gabriel Attal at Matignon, accusing him of “blocking” the appointment of a prime minister from its ranks, a position denounced by the presidential camp, which advocates “realism” and a wider coalition, reports AFP.

The left-wing parties wanted to put pressure on the head of state, who did not convene the NFP, although the alliance came out on top in legislative elections.

At the moment, the French Legislature is fragmented and is divided between the left-wing coalition New Popular Front, the centrist allies of President Emmanuel Macron and the far-right Rassemblement National (RN).

The three main parties of the left-wing coalition – the far-right La France Insoumise, the Socialists and the Greens – have begun negotiations to find a candidate for the position of prime minister. In a statement, the coalition asked Macron to “immediately return to the New Popular Front” and allow him to form a government.

However, in order to preserve the “stability of the country”, French President Emmanuel Macron did not accept the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and asked him to remain in office.

The New Popular Front “is the main republican force in this country and therefore it is its responsibility to form a government … to implement the public policies expected by the French people,” said Greens MP Cyrielle Chatelain.

“If the president continues to ignore the results, this will be tantamount to betraying our constitution and a coup d’état against democracy, which we will firmly oppose,” reads the statement signed by the New Popular Front.

France is facing an uncertain political situation, after the first round of the parliamentary elections was won by the far right, and in the second ballot, the New Popular Front came out on top, leaving Macron’s centrist alliance behind.

The culture of compromise, which would allow France to avoid institutional paralysis, is not a tradition in the Hexagon. French political life is polarized and dominated by the right-left divide. The last elections have clearly demonstrated this and their results otherwise contradict the policy that President Emmanuel Macron has been trying to apply for 7 years. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic was designed, in the 1950s, for a man, for a president, in this case, General de Gaulle at that time. Everything was drafted so that the head of state would obtain a stable and long-lasting majority, with an electoral system – the majority vote in two rounds – that favors this very thing. The problem is that this system has ankylosed and is no longer viable, analysts say.