Macron has blocked left-wing choice for French PM – what happens next?
Al Jazeera
Left-wing alliance NFP has failed to secure cross-party backing for its choice for prime minister, leaving France without a government.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron launched a new round of talks with political party leaders on Tuesday to find a way to form a new government and appoint a prime minister.
The French political system was thrown into chaos on Monday night when, following a weekend of talks between party leaders, Macron refused to appoint the candidate proposed for prime minister by the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance.
While the NFP won the most seats in the recent parliamentary elections, it did not win an overall majority.
The NFP, which is made up of the parties France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist party (PS), the Greens (EELV) and the Communist Party (PCF), had proposed a relatively unknown civil servant, Lucie Castets, 37, for the prime ministerial role.
But the alliance’s lack of a majority in the National Assembly and its failure to receive backing for its candidate from the other two alliances – Macron’s own centrist Ensemble alliance and the far-right National Rally – means it would be unable to function properly as an effective government, Macron said.
