French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly rejected an offer from his prime minister to step down, despite calls from far-left politicians to either appoint a left-leaning figure or step down after winning parliamentary elections.
Drama is brewing in Paris, where the battle for the keys to the Hôtel Matignon is on. On Sunday, the New Popular Front, a coalition of communists, environmentalists and socialists led by radical Jean-Luc Mélenchon, won an unexpected victory in the second round of legislative elections after cutting a pact with President Macron and blocking the populist, anti-mass immigration National Rally party from winning a majority in parliament.
With no party winning a majority, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal submitted his resignation to the president on Monday morning. Attal became France’s youngest ever and first openly gay prime minister after being appointed by Macron to replace Elisabeth Borne, whose approval ratings plummeted earlier this year after she forced through an increase in the retirement age without a vote in the National Assembly.
Despite there not being enough votes to keep Attal in his role as deputy prime minister, Macron has reportedly asked the prime minister not to step down “for now”. according to To FigaroDuring a meeting at the Elysée Palace on Monday morning, Macron pleaded with Attal to stay in his job to “ensure stability in the country.”
Macron’s election strategy effectively blocked National Rally leader Jordan Bardella from becoming the next prime minister, but he achieved this by downgrading candidates in certain constituencies and artificially boosting far-left forces to maximise his chances of defeating the National Rally.
France’s Communist-Socialist coalition won after striking a deal with President Macron to thwart the populist Le Pen party, according to exit polls.https://t.co/eCvaqJhfAt
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 7, 2024
Following the New Popular Front’s surprise result, long-time left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on the president to either “appoint a prime minister from our camp” or resign.
There are fears in France and abroad that early elections called by Macron could make Mélenchon prime minister — an idea many would find hard to support, given his radical socialist policies, his history of fraternizing with Islamic extremists and his downplaying of growing anti-Semitism in France.
Mathilde Pano, leader of the largest faction of the New Popular Front, the French Insubordinate Party (LFI), Claimed On Monday he said Mélenchon “must never be disqualified” as a candidate for prime minister.
“Jean-Luc Mélenchon is the man who taught the left how to win again, who gave hope to millions with 22 percent of the vote in the presidential elections, and it is thanks to him that the New Popular Front exists.”
French election: Populist Le Pen wins most votes but comes third in seatshttps://t.co/K2xh40HA6s
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 8, 2024
But if the New Popular Front takes power, their socialist policies risk further exacerbating the country’s looming debt crisis. the current Debt stands at about 3 trillion euros ($3.2 trillion), or about 110 percent of GDP, and the left-wing coalition is trying to reverse last year’s pension reforms that raised the retirement age from 60 to 62, a move that will only add to the debt mountain.
Outgoing Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed the defeat of his populist Rally National party in Sunday’s election but Warned He warned on Monday that France faces an “imminent risk” of a “financial crisis” and “economic decline”, and that the New Popular Front’s “exorbitant, inefficient and outdated” socialist approach to the economy only risks causing further damage.
“The second risk is an ideological division of the country,” he added, saying the government “must answer to the anger and legitimate concerns of the people, especially the 10 million people who voted for the National Rally. We must act differently. We must marshal all the forces of the country to listen, hear and respond without delay.”
“Otherwise we will go straight into a blockade and a regime crisis.”
Far-left leader Mélenchon says ‘native French’ poses ‘serious problems’ for social cohesionhttps://t.co/QabdpihpDA
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 16, 2024
