Macron Rejects Leftist French Government as Stalemate Drags On

France's President Emmanuel Macron reviews troops that took part in the July 14 Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 2, 2024. Aurelien Morissard/ Pool/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron will not agree to a government led by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance (NFP), extending the ongoing multi-party stalemate that has seen the nation unable to form a government since a snap election in June.

On Monday, he said that France needed “institutional stability” and that a government led by the NFP would immediately face a no-confidence vote from all other parties.

He said he would start new consultations with party leaders on Tuesday, and urged the left to cooperate with other political forces.

Political Uncertainty

Macron called a snap election on June 9 that delivered a hung parliament creating political uncertainty. He has been holding talks on a new government since the election, and said he would continue to do so.

No group emerged from the snap election with a clear majority, with the vote evenly split between the NFP, Macron’s centrist political party En Marche, and the right-wing National Rally.

The left-wing coalition, which includes La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, the Ecologists, and the French Communist Party, was the result of a last-minute political alliance thrown together on June 10 following National Rally’s victory in the European Parliament elections.

“It is my responsibility to ensure that the country is neither paralyzed nor weakened. The political parties in government must not forget the exceptional circumstances under which their deputies were elected in the second round of legislative elections. This obliges us,” said Macron.

“The Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communists have not yet proposed ways to cooperate with other political forces. It is now up to them to do so,” he added.

‘Shocking Autocratic Abuse of Power’

A man walks past election posters of the Nouveau Front Populaire candidate Adel Amara on July 5, 2024. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP

La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, accused Macron of refusing “to acknowledge the outcome of the popular vote” in a statement. 

The left-wing party said that any attempt to nominate someone other than its candidate, the little-known civil servant Lucie Castets for prime minister will trigger a motion of no confidence. It also called for mass protests and Macron’s impeachment.

“He cites ”institutional stability“ as his reason. But it’s not his job to ensure that—it’s Parliament’s. This is yet another abuse of power! And what does he really mean by this? Has he found another parliamentary majority willing to support him? Who or what is he referring to?” La France Insoumise said.

“This moment is too critical to let pass without a strong response from the French people against this shocking autocratic abuse of power,” it said.

“La France Insoumise calls for demonstrations in defense of democracy,” it added.

‘A Serious Danger’

The leader of the right-wing populist and nationalist party National Rally Party and Macron’s two-time presidential rival, Marine Le Pen said that the president had chosen “chaos” in a statement on the social media platform X.

“We asked the President of the Republic that the Prime Minister who will be chosen be respectful of the 11 million French people who voted for the National Rally. The way they have been treated in recent weeks is unacceptable,” she said.

French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen (L) speaks as party President Jordan Bardella listens during an evening gathering on the final day of the European Parliament election, at the Pavillon Chesnaie du Roy in Paris, on June 9, 2024. Julien de Rosa/AFP via Getty Images

“We are in reality the only opposition to this single party, the only opposition to chaos,” she added.

Le Pen’s 28-year-old protégé and president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella said that their party will block any prime ministerial candidate from the NFP.

“The NFP, through its program and the personalities who embody it, represents a serious danger for public order, for civil peace, and for the economic life of France. We would vote to block any government from a left that would fracture the country,” he said on X.

Joseph Lord and Reuters contributed to this report.