France is preparing for another week of political maneuvering as the newly elected National Assembly meets for the first time this Thursday. With the leftist New Popular Front alliance still divided over a candidate for prime minister, the fight for the powerful speaker’s role in parliament seems likely to dominate the coming days.
The next big date in France's political saga will be on Thursday, when the newly elected National Assembly is due to convene for the first time.
Lawmakers are due to elect the lower-house National Assembly's president, equivalent to a speaker, who organises the chamber's agenda and runs debates. It’s a central role at a time when President Emmanuel Macron is weakened, parliament is fragmented and no party or group has an absolute majority to govern the country.
Some in the New Popular Front (NFP) – the hastily assembled alliance ranging from Socialists and Greens to the Communist Party and the hard-left France Unbowed that unexpectedly won the most seats in snap elections – suggested they switch focus to getting someone among their ranks appointed to the speaker's chair, having so far failed to agree on a prime ministerial candidate.
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France Unbowed criticised its Socialist Party allies for what it said was a lack of flexibility in the talks over a prime minister and said it would no longer discuss the premiership until they agree on a joint candidate to chair parliament.
"We demand that we immediately agree on a single candidacy of the New Popular Front for the presidency of the National Assembly," France Unbowed said in the statement Monday.
Even if the left secured that role and then managed to agree on a name to put forward as government chief, it was still unclear if Macron would accept appointing a premier from its ranks, as any such government would lack roughly 100 seats in parliament to form a stable majority.
Macron last week urged the mainstream parties in France's hung parliament to form a coalition able to muster a "solid" majority, putting pressure on the more moderate parts of the NFP to ditch France Unbowed and join Macron's centre-right coalition.
"When the Socialists break away from France Unbowed and their delusional programme then we can work with them," Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told franceinfo broadcaster.
The Socialists have given no indication they might make such a move. Instead, they have said they want their party leader, Olivier Faure, to become prime minister.
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Macron is likely on Tuesday or Wednesday to accept the resignation of the current government, led by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, so that ministers who have been elected as lawmakers can take part in electing the leader of the National Assembly.
The current government will stay on in a caretaker capacity until a new team is appointed.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
