The French far-right party National Rally(RN) has strongly criticized any new left-wing government. They have expressed strong opposition after President Emmanuel Macron started planning to form a new government. For this purpose, he also began talks with many political parties, following the July 7 parliamentary elections. Macron also held meetings with RN leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, as well as the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) and their prime minister candidate, Lucie Castets.
Bardella strongly opposed the situation as “political paralysis”. He also highlighted that RN can never stand in favour of the new government. They are likely to vote against the NFP government. Len Pen also supported this view, blaming Macron for fostering chaos. She also called for an extraordinary session of the National Assembly before making an announcement of the name of the new prime minister. According to her, it is important that France should have a leader who respects RN supporters.
This dramatic political shift highlights ongoing tensions and the challenge Macron faces in assembling a stable government. With the National Rally’s firm stance, the path to forming a new administration remains uncertain, reflecting deep divisions in French politics.
According to Le Pen, one of the only remaining solutions to deal with the political deadlock is to hold a referendum. She believes that the opinion of French people matters a lot. According to her, when there is no progress and the assembly is stuck, the president should ask the French people what they want.
She strongly supports this idea as a way to get past political obstacles. Le Pen and Bardella also highlighted that the National Rally (RN) received over 10 million votes, showing they have substantial support from the public.
What is the NFP stance?
At the same time, Macron’s efforts are praised by Lucie Castets. She appreciates Macron’s productive discussion of creating the new government. She believes that since the NFP won the election, they should be in charge of forming the government. Castets thinks the NFP should also work to build coalitions with other political parties in parliament to ensure a stable government.
The first Secretary of the Socialists Party, Olivier Faure also said that there is no final date announced by Macon for appointing a new prime minister. He also said that soon Macton will announce the date. All of these conversations are taking place at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris. This place is the centre of the French government to make important decisions.
The political landscape of France is very complicated right now. The process of choosing the new leader of this nation was delayed because of the Paris Olympics 2024. This event ended in mid-August. This pause caused frustration and uncertainty. On July 23, the left-wing NFP alliance had suggested Castets for prime minister. But the president said waiting is necessary until the Olympics event ends. Many critics criticize this decision. Especially since Macron had previously rejected Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation on July 8 but accepted it later on July 16.
To make things even more complicated, Macron dissolved parliament and called for early elections after the RN party did well in the European Parliament elections on June 9, winning over 31% of the vote and beating Macron’s centrist group. With no single alliance holding a clear majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, it’s unclear how things will move forward.
It is expected that NFP could secure more seats, approximately 180 in the National Assembly based on current results. However, the centrist alliance came in second and won 160 seats. They also get support from Macron. At the same time the winner of the first round of election held on June 30, Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party only managed to get 140 seats in the second round.
In the June 30 elections’ first round, RN earned 29.26% of the votes on its own, which translated to 37 seats. However, when factoring in their allies, their share of the vote increased to over 33%.
