Still no white smoke. Forty-two days after accepting the resignation of Gabriel Attal’s government (a record since the post-war period), the succession is in limbo. Emmanuel Macron must open, this Tuesday, August 27, a “new cycle of consultations”, without LFI or the RN, but with the support of “personalities” supposed to help him get out of the impasse, after having swept aside the Lucie Castets option, arousing ire on the left.
Key information to remember
⇒ Consultations continue at the Elysée this Tuesday
⇒ The NFP denounces an “institutional coup” by Macron
⇒ LFI wants to present a procedure for the impeachment of the President of the Republic
Macron opens new consultations
Hoping to unblock the situation and in search of “institutional stability”, the head of state wants to continue to exchange on Tuesday with party leaders, but also with “personalities distinguished by their experience of service to the State and the Republic”, he announced on Monday evening in a press release.
While neither the program nor the casting have been communicated by the presidency, one thing is certain: the entire political spectrum will not be represented. On the far right, the National Rally (RN) and its allies led by Éric Ciotti will not be invited, indicated a close friend of the president. On the left, La France insoumise, presented as a scarecrow by its Macronist and right-wing adversaries, will not receive an invitation card either.
Faure (PS) will not go to the Elysée
The First Secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, will not go to the Elysée for the second round of consultations to find a Prime Minister, he announced on France 2, refusing to be “an accomplice in a parody of democracy.”
While Emmanuel Macron on Monday ruled out the option of a left-wing government led by Lucie Castets, while inviting the PS, the Ecologists and the communists to “cooperate with other political forces”, Olivier Faure assured that there was no question of being “the auxiliaries of a dying Macronie”.
NFP denounces “an anti-democratic coup”
“Unacceptable anti-democratic coup”, call for a “major popular mobilization”, “dangerous democratic irresponsibility”: the left protested on Monday against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to exclude the option of a left-wing government led by Lucie Castets, in the name of “institutional stability”.
“This is a completely unacceptable anti-democratic coup that is being carried out on the basis of an argument that makes no sense,” Manuel Bompard said on BFMTV, assuring that they would “not participate in a new attempt at consultation.” The leader of the Communists, Fabien Roussel, called on BFMTV on Monday for “a large popular mobilization” in “the coming days.” For the leader of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, “invoking stability when we have dissolved without any consultation and we refuse the result of an election for which the French have never been so numerous to turn out is a dangerous democratic irresponsibility.”
A motion of impeachment soon to be presented to the Assembly?
In the evening, Manuel Bompard announced on X that a motion of impeachment against the head of state “will be presented by the rebellious deputies to the office of the National Assembly in accordance with article 68 of the Constitution”, to oppose “an abuse of power”. A lever mentioned by the left-wing party for several days already.
The CGT calls for “mobilization”
Pension reform, unemployment insurance, purchasing power… While many social issues remain unresolved after the dissolution of the National Assembly, the CGT is maintaining the pressure and announcing a first “mobilization” in the fall, going against the grain of its partners who are waiting for the future government.
“I’m not going to announce any movements when we don’t know what the government will be, what methods it will use and what its subjects will be,” CFTC boss Cyril Chabanier explained to AFP. The same observation was made by the CFE-CGC: “We’re not going on strike beforehand,” added François Hommeril, still saying he was “groggy.” “It’s September and we don’t really know how things will go.”