“They say they don't want La France Insoumise (LFI), but in reality, they don't want a leftwing government.” That is Fabien Roussel's view of French president Emmanuel Macron and his supporters. The national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), addressing nearly a thousand members at his party's conference in Montpellier in southern France on Saturday evening, warned the head of state about the “democratic power grab” he would be committing by not appointing Lucie Castets as prime minister. Civil servant Lucie Castets is the agreed choice as prime minister of the leftwing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), which became the biggest group in the National Assembly after last month's parliamentary elections.
French Left steps up pressure as Macron prepares to name prime minister
President Emmanuel Macron is due to announce the name of France's new prime minister in the coming days. So far he had declined to nominate a candidate from the leftwing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) alliance, which became the biggest group in the National Assembly after July's parliamentary elections, largely because it includes the radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party in its ranks. Now, in a bold political gambit, LFI boss Jean-Luc Mélenchon has opened the door to supporting a NFP government without his own party's members taking part as ministers. Meanwhile three of the four main parties in the Nouveau Front Populaire held their summer conferences at the weekend. While differences in form and substance were expressed, the battle to form a government and the looming threat of the far-right are encouraging them to maintain a common strategy. And they warned of a turbulent political autumn ahead if their hopes of forming a government with their proposed candidate, Lucie Castets, as prime minister are dashed. Mathieu Dejean, Fabien Escalona, Névil Gagnepain and Clément Le Foll report.
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