By Nitya Chakraborty
French President Emanuel Macron exposed his true political shade at the first session of the newly elected national assembly on July 18 when he took the help of the right wingers to defeat the nominee of the New Popular Front Andre Chassaigne in the election for the post of the president of the national assembly. Macron’s candidate Braun Pivet won following a deal with the right wingers. The contest was close. NFP’s communist nominee lost by only eight votes.
This was a major contest in the newly elected national assembly after the July 7 general elections. The political line up in the assembly poll on Thursday gave indication of the line of thinking of the French President who on the eve of the final round of French elections took a position against the right wing RN of Marine Le Pen and called for the defeat of the far right forces along with the New Popular Front (NFP). The latest political position of the President Macron signals that he will not allow the NFP, the largest group in the new assembly to have the Prime Minister’ post and will work on other ways to keep away the Left from power.
Braun-Pivet’s win makes it likely that Macron will be able to appoint a prime minister from his camp The NFP nominated the veteran communist member Andre Chassaigne who has 22 years experience in the national assembly and is respected across party lines. NFP got 183 seats in the national assembly as against 163 seats of Macron’s front and 143 by the far right RN. Out of the total of 577 members in assembly, there are more than 90 members including 68 of different groups of Right who must have contributed to the victory of Macron’s candidate
The non-RN right had previously rejected the prospect of an outright coalition with the pro-Macron camp, but they have steadily signalled their openness to finding common ground on policy — putting forward a “legislative package” focused on policies aimed at “better recognizing work and restoring authority.” The win of his own candidate will embolden President Macron to defy the popular verdict and to work for a government of his own liking keeping away the Left from the prime ministership.
President Macron’s term continues till 2027. He is free to choose a new Prime Minister at his own convenience. The Olympics games will begin in Paris next week and after that the country will forget politics for a fortnight. So till the second week of the next month, there may be no effective talks on government formation.
Though the NFP is the biggest group and the leader of the largest component Jean Luc Melenchon has urged the President to respect the verdict and invite the Left to form the government, the reality is that in the last eleven days after July 7 elections, no breakthrough has been achieved among the NFP partners regarding the choice of the Prime Minister. French unbowed the party of Melenchon has 74 seats followed by the Socialists 59 the Greens 28 and the Communist Party 9.Melenchonis firm for PM’s post for his party while the Socialists want PM from their party. Even the Communist Party thinks that Melenchon’s actions are divisive in many cases. There was quick unity of the Left before the elections to prevent the far right from coming to power but now after electoral success, the differences still remain. The Socialists have objections to some of the economic programmes of Melenchon.
In fact, President Macron made it clear after July 7 elections that Jean Luc Melenchon who heads the largest party of the NFP, does not represent the French republican values and his programmes can not be accepted by him.
Jean Luc Melenchon who contested against President Macron in 2022 presidential elections but lost narrowly, is known for his far left views. His party favours withdrawal of France from NATO and nationalization of many key sectors of the French economy. He has differences with the Socialists and the Communists also. In fact, soon after the united opposition to Macron under Melenchon in 2022 elections, the left alliance broke up and only on the eve of the recent national elections, the left parties entered into an alliance.
Despite the victory of his candidate as the president of the national assembly, President Macron’s party is on a slippery ground. The national assembly victory is ad hoc. The Right Republicans have not firmly tied up with Macron’s party. With only 143 seats, it is very difficult for President Macron to organize a majority in the assembly every time. That way, this political instability is expected to continue in France for long unless, the NFP comes to an agreement on its own PM and there is some understanding with President Macron’s party on government formation to keep way the far right from power. Far Right Le Pen’s party is still strong. She is waiting for the Left alliance to fail so that she can grab the opportunity in 2027 presidential elections. (IPA Service)
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