Four days after the second round of the legislative elections on July 7, while negotiations continue on the left to try to form a government, reactions to Emmanuel Macron’s letter addressed to the French in the pages of the regional daily press on Thursday, July 11 are strong. In his text, the President of the Republic calls for a broad coalition of republican forces. A strategy rejected in particular by the left, which calls on the Head of State to respect the result of the ballot boxes and to place a figure from the New Popular Front in the post of Prime Minister.
Key information:
⇒ The left accuses Emmanuel Macron of “refusing to know the result of the ballot boxes”
⇒ The National Rally denounces “an unworthy circus”
⇒ The right rejects an NFP Prime Minister, but also a “national coalition”
Larcher opposed to the appointment of a Prime Minister from the New Popular Front
This Thursday morning on BFMTVthe LR President of the Senate Gérard Larcher repeated his opposition to the appointment of a Prime Minister from the New Popular Front: “This does not correspond to the will of the French people.” According to him, the union of the left came out on top in the second round only to block the RN. He assures that he will call for “censorship” in the event of a government from the New Popular Front, denouncing in particular the plan to repeal the pension reform wanted by the left.
Laurent Wauquiez, the newly elected president of the LR group renamed “Droite républicaine”, rejected a “government coalition”, but raised the possibility of a “legislative pact”. The leader of the MoDem, François Bayrou, hammered home to AFP that “we cannot make a government of national unity with only one camp”, arguing for the appointment of a Prime Minister capable of “uniting”, without excluding himself from this scenario.
For Sophie Binet, “it’s Louis XVI who locks himself away in Versailles”
“Emmanuel Macron must come out of denial. He has lost. […] Now he must respect the result of the ballot boxes,” he insisted. on LCI CGT number 1 Sophie Binet, “very worried” after the publication of the president’s letter to the French. “We have the impression of having Louis XVI who locks himself away in Versailles. We must listen to the country and stop being so disconnected. […] “He risks plunging it into chaos,” warns the unionist, who believes that we are “on the brink of a regime crisis.” The president continues to “throw cans of gasoline every time there are fires,” even though he is “no longer even credible in his own camp,” she accuses. On the contrary, she calls on him to “listen to the results of the ballot boxes,” by asking the left to appoint a Prime Minister and by letting parliamentarians find “majorities of projects.” “Let this new government do its job,” she insists.
The left acknowledges receipt
The reactions were virulent, Wednesday evening and this Thursday morning, in response to the letter from the President of the Republic published in the local press after three days of silence. A new Prime Minister? “This requires giving the political forces a little time to build these compromises with serenity and respect for everyone,” he warned in this text, pleading for a “solid” and “plural” majority with all the republican forces. He intends to consolidate a position of superiority, ensuring in passing that “no one won” at the end of the vote. Scandal in the ranks of the left which is demanding the departure of Gabriel Attal and wants to go alone to Matignon.
In response, Olivier Faure, the head of the PS, accused the head of state of not “respecting the vote of the French” after the New Popular Front came out on top in the legislative elections. On the same network, the national secretary of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier was equally indignant. “We’ve been served the ‘at the same time’ for 7 years now. But we can’t lose and win at the same time […] His denial is damaging the country and democracy.” The national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, deplored on TF1 that the head of state does not “respect suffrage.” “I think that the French have already responded to his letter, they have even acknowledged receipt, they have voted,” he continued. “He must stop putting off the moment when we will have to change policy.”
For LFI, it’s the return of the “royal veto”
Emmanuel Macron “refuses to recognize the result of the ballot boxes” and must therefore “bow” and “call” the New Popular Front, denounced Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X. “It is the return of the royal right of veto on universal suffrage […] “It’s the return of the intrigues of the Fourth Republic,” he added. Mathilde Panot, New Popular Front MP for Val-de-Marne and re-elected president of the LFI group in the National Assembly, denounced on France Info a “democratic and presidential coup” which “denies the results of the ballot boxes.”
Clémence Guetté, for her part, judged that Emmanuel Macron is “not up to the task of history”. “More alone than ever, Emmanuel Macron is brutalizing. He had thrown France into the arms of the extreme right, we avoided him. Now, the New Popular Front must govern”, she wrote on X.
Marine Le Pen denounces “an unworthy circus”
“If I understand correctly, in his letter, Emmanuel Macron proposes to block LFI, which he helped to elect three days ago and thanks to whom the Renaissance deputies were elected, also three days ago… This circus is becoming unworthy,” wrote Marine Le Pen on X.
The president of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella, accused the president of “organizing the paralysis of the country”, “by positioning the extreme left at the gates of power, after unworthy arrangements”. “His message is now: sort it out yourselves. Irresponsible!”, he was indignant.