Negotiations have been ongoing for five days within the New Popular Front, which came out on top in the legislative elections but without an absolute majority, to agree on the name of a potential Prime Minister. That of Huguette Bello emerged on the evening of Friday, July 12, as a contender for Matignon – but has not yet been validated by everyone. The disunity that is gaining ground in the presidential camp has aroused the annoyance of Emmanuel Macron, who deplored a “disastrous spectacle”. The right, for its part, is also torn over the president’s proposal to form a Republican “coalition”.
Key information to remember
⇒ The communists and LFI are pushing the name of Huguette Bello as Prime Minister
⇒ Rachida Dati speaks out in favor of a coalition of the Republican right with the presidential camp
⇒ Gabriel Attal should be elected head of the Renaissance group today
Mélenchon approves Huguette Bello’s option for Matignon
What if it was her? Since yesterday evening, communists and Insoumis have been putting pressure on the Socialist Party by pushing for the Huguette Bello option at Matignon. The president of the regional council of La Réunion, and former deputy of the communist group, “does indeed have the substance, the depth to be able to fulfill this function” of Prime Minister of a left-wing government, assured the leader of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, on BFMTV.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon also approved this “solution” which “would honor everyone”, with a “racialized woman and anti-racist feminist”. Huguette Bello, 73, is close to the Insoumis and was on their list for the European elections. According to the triple candidate for the presidential election, “Insoumis, Communists and Greens”, “at least three parties agree” to support this candidacy for Matignon.
The socialists, for their part, are defending the candidacy of their first secretary, Olivier Faure. Huguette Bello, “it’s a serious proposition for people who don’t want to govern,” reacts a socialist source. “The real issue will become Faure or Mélenchon.”
A PS “National Council” this Saturday
The Socialist Party is holding a “national council” this Saturday to submit a proposal to the “partners” of the left-wing coalition and “designation procedures”. “At this stage, “the PS notes that there is no general consensus emerging within the New Popular Front”, particularly on the name of a potential Prime Minister, underlines MEP Pierre Jouvet, secretary general of the party.
Rachida Dati wants to “support a coalition”
The Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, called on Friday on the Republican Right, the new name of the LR group in the Assembly, to support a coalition with the presidential camp, in an interview with the newspaper The Parisian“Our voters will not forgive us for having refused the hand extended by the President of the Republic when it is a question of avoiding chaos in the country,” she added.
The new president of the LR group in the Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez, has rejected outright the principle of “a government coalition”, but left the door open to a “legislative pact”. It will be structured around “proposed laws that will be put on the table of the National Assembly to respond to the country’s problems without delay” and whose priority will be “the revaluation of the France that works”, he detailed.
Attal’s election as head of the Renaissance group in the Assembly scheduled for today
Yet another election is taking place this Saturday. Gabriel Attal is currently the only candidate to take the lead of the Renaissance group – particularly weakened – in the Assembly, despite ambitions once attributed to Élisabeth Borne and Gerald DarmaninHe proposes renaming the group “Together for the Republic”, in an effort to make it “essential” for generating “majorities of projects and ideas”.
The presidential camp is trying to unite behind its campaign leader, but it is struggling to hide certain disagreements over political strategy, between outstretched hands on the right and the left. Emmanuel Macron also deplored the “disastrous spectacle” given by his camp in recent days during a meeting of the bigwigs at the Elysée Palace on Friday. Gérald Darmanin is also said to have become annoyed, in a message addressed to the group, stating that this election would resolve neither “the political line” nor “the functioning of the party”.