Macron rules out governing in coalition with La Francia Insumisa
Atal insists that the withdrawal of candidates does not entail a union: “There is no alliance with La Francia Insumisa, nor will there ever be”
Madrid, 3 (Europa Press)
French President Emmanuel Macron rejected this Wednesday that electoral concessions to the left for the second round of the legislative elections could open the door to a coalition government with members of La Francia Insumissa (LFI), the party of Jean Mélenchon.
“There will be no coalition,” Macron concluded, echoing statements made at the Council of Ministers and several French media, including ‘Le Figaro’, FranceInfo and BFM TV. “(The withdrawal of candidates) does not mean a coalition,” he added.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has also marked the distances with Mélenchon’s party in an interview on France Inter this Thursday: “Everything separates me from La Francia Insumisa.” “I would never sign a coalition with them,” he said, pointing to a formation that represents the extreme left for many on the Macronist front, therefore equivalent to the extreme right in terms of democratic risk.
Later, Attal influenced this situation and, in a publication on his social networks, stressed that “there is no alliance with La Francia Insumisa, nor will there ever be”, at the same time that he clarified that the fact of the withdrawal of some candidates does not mean a union of both political formations.
Still the French Prime Minister said, “To withdraw does not mean joining in, to avoid a victory for the National Rally candidate, to avoid giving the National Rally an absolute majority.”
In fact, although the official slogan of Macron’s list is to withdraw candidates in constituencies where it is necessary to support the left-wing New Popular Front to prevent a national rally, several candidates have refused to step aside, referring mainly to the LFI.
The far-right remains the favourite in the second round, although polls do not guarantee it an absolute majority. It is in this scenario where a scenario of negotiations would open up, although polls suggest that the New Popular Front could have more legislators in the National Assembly than ‘Macronism’.