The French Popular Front has chosen its candidate for prime minister: economist Lucie Castets

White smoke. After two weeks of intense conferences, the French New Popular Front (NFP) has overcome its differences and managed to reach a consensus on a proposed name for the post of prime minister. It is economist Lucie Castets, spokeswoman and co-founder of the collective Nos Services Publics (Our Public Services), as announced by the progressive coalition in a statement on X this Tuesday.

“I accept the proposal of the New Popular Front with determination and responsibility. The left has emerged victorious and is called to govern. I will put all my energy and conviction into it,” Castets later tweeted.

The NFP parties present him as “the leader of collaborative struggles to defend and promote public services, actively involved in the battle of ideas against retirement at age 64”, one of the flags of the Popular Front. They say he is a senior official who has fought against tax fraud and financial crime and has experience in the collaborative world. In the statement, they are “fully committed to working with him in the government he will lead.” “Wishing to work together, the New Popular Front calls on our people to join his actions in the successful implementation of his program to fulfill their aspirations for a dignified life and respond to the environmental crisis,” they explain.

The statement was published on social networks an hour before President Emmanuel Macron took the stage for his first television interview since the last legislative elections. “The next step: Macron must recognize the electoral result and appoint a new president,” said Marine Tondelier, leader of the environmentalists.

And what has Macron done? A few minutes later, the president rejected the NFP proposal. “It is not a question of names proposed by a political group,” he explained, adding, “It would be wrong to say that the New Popular Front has any kind of majority.”

And the head of state cited the defeat of New Popular Front candidate André Chassagne in the vote for the presidency of the assembly against Yael Braun-Pivet, the candidate of the right-wing-backed presidential coalition. “The question is to know what majority can be found in the assembly so that the government can approve reforms, approve the budget and move the country forward.”

The various families of the left-wing coalition, which emerged as the first parliamentary force in legislative elections on July 7, have been immersed in tense negotiations since election night to reach a consensus on a candidate for head of government, who, in addition to needing Emmanuel Macron to agree to his appointment, will also need them to generate enough support in the National Assembly, where the NFP is far from an absolute majority of 289, to advance the proposals.

Exit from the blockade days

The talks were stalled due to differences between the main coalition partiesputting the NFP on the verge of collapse amid a mix of accusations of blockades and apologies to voters for the delay. The tug-of-war has been carried out mainly by the Socialist Party and France Insumed (LFI), the two most important structures of the left-wing union, which initially linked themselves to their own candidates. So far attempts to get out of this quagmire have not succeeded. “We are facing a battle of wills between the Socialists, who accuse the Insumisos of not wanting to govern, and the Insumisos, who accuse the Socialists of wanting to betray them,” he lamented in a statement. Freedom A green negotiator.

In the middle of the month the blockade escalated due to the veto of the President of Reunion, Huguette Bello, as the left-wing candidate by the French Socialist Party (PS), which prompted criticism from the rest of the allies. Subsequently, Francia Insumissa announced that she was leaving the table and rejected another candidacy of Laurence Tubiana for Prime Minister, proposed by her allies from the New Popular Front, alleging that it would mean “allowing Macronists” who have been kicked out “to enter through the window”. Both Bello and Tubiana resigned from being candidates after the disagreements within the left-wing coalition were confirmed.

Meanwhile, the agreement to choose Communist deputy André Chassagne as a common candidate for the post of President of the National Assembly offered relief after several days of internal divisions and the left coalition managed to fight united on this front. Nevertheless, Macronist Yaël Braun-Pivot narrowly defeated Chassagne in the vote, dealing a blow to the progressive coalition.

The Socialists had said that there would be a joint candidacy for Matignon around July 18, the day the National Assembly convened after the election, but this deadline was not met. Meanwhile, several voices had advocated that the candidate should be voted for by left-wing MPs elected in the legislative elections.

The new Popular Front is made up of France Insoumise, which topped the number of seats, as well as the Socialist Party, which closely follows the Communists and the environmentalists. On the French political scene, voices have multiplied that denigrate the LFI, founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and who want to block any attempt by a left-wing formation to reach government. The Socialists have claimed the victory, counting on the fact that a member of their party will have more options to gain support in other groups.

The French left, which immediately agreed to participate in the election with a common program, has also strongly criticized President Macron for refusing to appoint a Prime Minister until there is a solid majority to ensure governance, and demanding a name coming from the New Popular Front, the leading power in the Assembly but without an absolute majority. One of the most prominent critics has been the leader of the environmentalists, who accused the President of avoiding recognizing the results of the election after pressing the button to dissolve the National Assembly. Tondelier has argued that “institutional logic dictates” that he should convene the NFP and ask them to propose a Prime Minister.

Appointment

The French Constitution does not impose any conditions on Emmanuel Macron as to who can be appointed prime minister, although tradition dictates that he must be a majority figure in the Assembly. However, institutional logic establishes a requirement to become prime minister: being able to oppose a motion of censure. If 289 deputies (out of the 577 that make up the chamber) vote for said motion, the head of the executive is obliged to resign.

That is why one of the unknowns to ascertain the viability of Lucie Castets’ candidacy is the position of the rest of the political forces; if they declare that they will vote against her on a motion of censure, Macron could use this fact as an excuse to refuse to appoint her as prime minister. Now, once the National Assembly has been constituted and the most important positions have been distributed last week, there is no new session scheduled, so it is difficult to estimate the earliest time frame in which a hypothetical motion of censure could be held.

The president expressed his opinion in a letter to the public that was published upon his arrival in Washington to attend the NATO summit. In it, he urged Republican parties to form a broad-based coalition, since “no political force has a sufficient majority alone,” and the blocks or coalitions that result from the early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7 “are all minorities.” This, he said, would mean “giving political forces a little time,” and in the meantime, the current government would continue to fulfill its responsibilities in office.