By Sharon Zhang
August 28, 2024
Source: TruthOut
The decision has made the left furious, saying that Macron is bucking democratic norms to refuse the left power.French President Emmanuel Macron officially rejected naming a prime minister from the left-wing coalition that triumphed in the country’s snap election in June, sparking anger from left-wing leaders and advocates who say that Macron is exercising a dangerous power grab.
Macron issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not be appointing a prime minister from the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) coalition, which won a plurality of seats in France’s election — a historic win for the French left. He claimed that any prime minister representing NFP would be immediately voted out by the National Assembly.
To many on the left, the statement showed Macron’s refusal to give up power despite his coalition’s loss, and his outright opposition to allowing left-wing rule.
Many have pointed out that, if the left-wing pick would be immediately voted out, then he should just allow that to happen rather than refuse to appoint a left-wing candidate to begin with; leading French paper Le Monde said that Macron should appoint a left-wing leader in the “interest of democracy.”
The decision has infuriated the left. Leaders of La France Insoumise (LFI), which won roughly 75 of the 178 seats belonging to NFP in the election, have characterized Macron’s actions as a “coup” and the party has called for protests against Macron. The leader of the country’s Communist party has also called for an uprising.The Green party and Socialist party leaders have said that they will not participate in negotiations with Macron due to his refusal to work with the left. “This election is being stolen from us,” Green party leader Marine Tondelier said.
As president, Macron is responsible for naming a new prime minister after power shifts in elections, but he has dragged his feet on doing so. For weeks, he refused to meet with NFP’s candidate, the Socialist Party’s Lucie Castets.
Meanwhile, on Monday, he met with the far right coalition’s leader, Marine Le Pen — potentially in hopes that he could peel off members from the right in order to shirk the left and form a coalition of the center-left and center-right, or even the far right, that reject the left. Le Pen’s party, the Rassemblement National, was expected to win June’s election and is known for its extremist right-wing views. Though the party rebranded itself in 2018, its original formation was made up of fascist collaborators and military officers trying to maintain France’s colonial empire.
The NFP did not win a majority in the National Assembly, which requires 289 seats under a single coalition or party for a majority. However, it is a major bucking of the norm for Macron to not at least try to co-lead with a member of an opposing party, known as cohabitation.
The NFP ran on a platform of raising France’s minimum wage, undoing the raising of the legal retirement age and building affordable housing.
The decision has made the left furious, saying that Macron is bucking democratic norms to refuse the left power.French President Emmanuel Macron officially rejected naming a prime minister from the left-wing coalition that triumphed in the country’s snap election in June, sparking anger from left-wing leaders and advocates who say that Macron is exercising a dangerous power grab.
Macron issued a statement on Monday saying that he would not be appointing a prime minister from the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) coalition, which won a plurality of seats in France’s election — a historic win for the French left. He claimed that any prime minister representing NFP would be immediately voted out by the National Assembly.
To many on the left, the statement showed Macron’s refusal to give up power despite his coalition’s loss, and his outright opposition to allowing left-wing rule.
Many have pointed out that, if the left-wing pick would be immediately voted out, then he should just allow that to happen rather than refuse to appoint a left-wing candidate to begin with; leading French paper Le Monde said that Macron should appoint a left-wing leader in the “interest of democracy.”
The decision has infuriated the left. Leaders of La France Insoumise (LFI), which won roughly 75 of the 178 seats belonging to NFP in the election, have characterized Macron’s actions as a “coup” and the party has called for protests against Macron. The leader of the country’s Communist party has also called for an uprising.The Green party and Socialist party leaders have said that they will not participate in negotiations with Macron due to his refusal to work with the left. “This election is being stolen from us,” Green party leader Marine Tondelier said.
As president, Macron is responsible for naming a new prime minister after power shifts in elections, but he has dragged his feet on doing so. For weeks, he refused to meet with NFP’s candidate, the Socialist Party’s Lucie Castets.
Meanwhile, on Monday, he met with the far right coalition’s leader, Marine Le Pen — potentially in hopes that he could peel off members from the right in order to shirk the left and form a coalition of the center-left and center-right, or even the far right, that reject the left. Le Pen’s party, the Rassemblement National, was expected to win June’s election and is known for its extremist right-wing views. Though the party rebranded itself in 2018, its original formation was made up of fascist collaborators and military officers trying to maintain France’s colonial empire.
The NFP did not win a majority in the National Assembly, which requires 289 seats under a single coalition or party for a majority. However, it is a major bucking of the norm for Macron to not at least try to co-lead with a member of an opposing party, known as cohabitation.
The NFP ran on a platform of raising France’s minimum wage, undoing the raising of the legal retirement age and building affordable housing.
'This election is being stolen from us': French left calls mass protest against Macron
David McBrayer
August 27, 2024
Leftist parties in France on Tuesday accused President Emmanuel Macron of election theft and announced mass protests after he rejected Nouveau Front Populaire's proposed candidate for prime minister, even though the left-wing coalition won the most seats in a snap parliamentary contest last month.
The left-wing parties that formed NFP in June to fight off the surging far-right expressed outrage at Macron's decision, with the Jean-Luc Mélenchon-led La France Insoumise (LFI) Party condemning Macron's dismissal of a leftist government as a "coup" and urging a "firm response from French society."
The party specifically called for "a large demonstration against Macron's coup on September 7" and expressed "hope that the political, union, and allied forces committed to the defense of democracy will join this call."
Marine Tondelier, the leader of France's Green Party, said Tuesday that "this election is being stolen from us" and declared that "the people must get rid of Macron for the good of democracy."
"He is chaos and instability," Tondelier added.
The French political system has been engulfed in chaos since Macron called snap elections in June after his party performed dreadfully in European Parliament elections in June as Marine Le Pen's far-right, xenophobic National Rally surged.
While the French left and Macron allies successfully teamed up last month to prevent the National Rally from seizing control of the nation's government, NFP's stunning victory in the snap election created a new dilemma for Macron, who has been openly hostile to the left since taking office in 2017.
Macron claimed Monday that a leftist-led government "would immediately have a majority of more than 350 MPs against it, effectively preventing it from acting."
"In view of the opinions expressed by the political leaders consulted, the institutional stability of our country means that this option should not be pursued," said Macron, ruling out the NFP's candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets.
Protesting Macron's decision, leftist leaders boycotted a fresh round of negotiations on Tuesday, with Tondelier saying that "we're not going to continue these sham consultations with a president who doesn't listen anyway... and is obsessed with keeping control."
"He's not looking for a solution, he's trying to obstruct it," said Tondelier.
In a social media post on Monday, Mélenchon pledged to move ahead with an impeachment motion against Macron, calling for a "swift and firm" response to the French president.
"The president of the republic has just created a situation of exceptional gravity," Mélenchon wrote.
David McBrayer
August 27, 2024
Leftist parties in France on Tuesday accused President Emmanuel Macron of election theft and announced mass protests after he rejected Nouveau Front Populaire's proposed candidate for prime minister, even though the left-wing coalition won the most seats in a snap parliamentary contest last month.
The left-wing parties that formed NFP in June to fight off the surging far-right expressed outrage at Macron's decision, with the Jean-Luc Mélenchon-led La France Insoumise (LFI) Party condemning Macron's dismissal of a leftist government as a "coup" and urging a "firm response from French society."
The party specifically called for "a large demonstration against Macron's coup on September 7" and expressed "hope that the political, union, and allied forces committed to the defense of democracy will join this call."
Marine Tondelier, the leader of France's Green Party, said Tuesday that "this election is being stolen from us" and declared that "the people must get rid of Macron for the good of democracy."
"He is chaos and instability," Tondelier added.
The French political system has been engulfed in chaos since Macron called snap elections in June after his party performed dreadfully in European Parliament elections in June as Marine Le Pen's far-right, xenophobic National Rally surged.
While the French left and Macron allies successfully teamed up last month to prevent the National Rally from seizing control of the nation's government, NFP's stunning victory in the snap election created a new dilemma for Macron, who has been openly hostile to the left since taking office in 2017.
Macron claimed Monday that a leftist-led government "would immediately have a majority of more than 350 MPs against it, effectively preventing it from acting."
"In view of the opinions expressed by the political leaders consulted, the institutional stability of our country means that this option should not be pursued," said Macron, ruling out the NFP's candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets.
Protesting Macron's decision, leftist leaders boycotted a fresh round of negotiations on Tuesday, with Tondelier saying that "we're not going to continue these sham consultations with a president who doesn't listen anyway... and is obsessed with keeping control."
"He's not looking for a solution, he's trying to obstruct it," said Tondelier.
In a social media post on Monday, Mélenchon pledged to move ahead with an impeachment motion against Macron, calling for a "swift and firm" response to the French president.
"The president of the republic has just created a situation of exceptional gravity," Mélenchon wrote.
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