Oman Daily Observer

Macron seeks fresh negotiatio­ns on govt

Macron faced an uphill battle on Tuesday as he tried to revive negotiatio­ns over a new government in France, with the political left refusing to take part after he rejected their candidate for prime minister.

More than seven weeks after an inconclusi­ve parliament­ary election which cost his allies their relative majority, Macron has still not named a new prime minister to take over from the current caretaker administra­tion. Leftwing coalition the New Popular Front (NFP) emerged from the vote as the largest bloc, but well short of an absolute majority.

In the 577-seat National Assembly, the NFP has over 190 seats, followed by Macron’s centrist alliance at around 160 and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) at 140.

The NFP have neverthele­ss demanded that the president pick their candidate Lucie Castets, a 37-year-old economist and civil servant with a history of left-wing activism. But late on Monday, Macron ruled out naming a left-wing government, saying it would be a “threat to institutio­nal stability”. Instead, he called on “all political leaders to rise to the occasion by demonstrat­ing a spirit of responsibi­lity”.

Macron’s office said that it would be pointless to name

For more than seven weeks, Macron has still not named a new prime minister to take over from the current caretaker administra­tion

an NFP government as it would immediatel­y be rejected by a no-confidence vote in parliament. The president called on the socialists, ecologists and communists in the leftist alliance to “cooperate with other political forces”, in an apparent attempt to lure the more moderate members of the coalition away from the hard-left LFI. Socialist party boss Olivier Faure refused Macron’s overture, saying he would “not be an accomplice to a parody of democracy”. Socialist deputies would back a no-confidence motion against any government that was not put forward by the NFP, he said, accusing the president of seeking to “prolong Macronism” despite losing the National Assembly election.

“French people will start to get annoyed, to say the least,” Faure warned, saying he would take part in street protests after Communist party leader Fabien Roussel called for a “grand popular mobilisati­on”.

The far-right RN was not invited to Tuesday’s talks, which kicked off with Macron meeting a group of independen­t deputies.

On Wednesday, he will see representa­tives from Les Republicai­ns, a centre-right party, and a number of other conservati­ve figures.