Macron calls on parties with "republican values" to form the new Government

2024-07-10 21:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Macron calls on parties with "republican values" to form the new

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday called on political parties with "republican values" to join forces to form a stable majority in the country's National Assembly, after Sunday's parliamentary election failed to produce a clear winner.

The election, which Macron called after losing to the far-right National Rally in the European elections, has plunged France into a dead end, with three opposing political blocs and no majority to form a new government.

In a letter published in the country's newspapers, Macron called on parties with "republican values" to form a governing coalition and said he hopes he can choose a prime minister from such a grouping.

"Let's hope in the abilities of our political leaders to show sensitivity, harmony and calmness in their interest and that of the country. In the spirit of these principles, I will decide on the appointment of a prime minister," Macron wrote.

The New National Front – a coalition of the Greens, Social Democrats, Communists and Jean-Luc Melenchon's leftist France Unsubordinated party – unexpectedly won the most seats in Sunday's election, but not the necessary majority.

Macron's centrist coalition, Together, came second, while the National Rally came third, despite hoping to win a majority after a big surge in the first round of elections.

It would be common for Macron to ask the largest parliamentary group, in this case the leftist bloc, to form the new Government, but nothing in the Constitution obliges him to do so. Macron did not clearly ask that the National Rally and France Unsubjugated be excluded from the coalition for the formation of the Government, but the mention of "republican values" by him is understood as the exclusion of the parties of the extreme left or the extreme right.

Some lawmakers from the France Unsubordinated party reacted to Macron's letter, saying he should accept the leftist alliance's candidate for prime minister once it selects him, and allow him to form a new government.

"The best thing he can do for the country at this time is to allow the group that won the most seats, the New People's Front, to govern. Any other trick would be very problematic and dangerous for democracy," said one of them, Eric Coquerel, on LCI television./ Rel