French Left's frustration over Macron's refusal to appoint their candidate as prime minister
Critics say the French president is continuing to behave as if his political camp had not been defeated in last month's parliamentary elections and is still refusing to appoint the Left's candidate, Lucie Castets, as the country's new prime minister. As Macron's supporters battle to remain centre stage of the political scene, members of the Nouvelle Front Populaire, the leftwing alliance which has the largest number of MPs in the National Assembly, attack what they see as a denial of democracy on the part of the French head of state. Youmni Kezzouf reports.
ForFor thirty days, France has been without a fully-functioning government. The resignation of prime minister Gabriel Attal on July 16th, following the defeat of the Macronist camp in the snap parliamentary elections triggered by the dissolution of the National Assembly, has led to a state of inertia. In defiance of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, Emmanuel Macron has used the pretext of an alleged Olympic 'truce' to delay appointing Lucie Castets as the new prime minister. She is the candidate proposed by the leftwing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), which came out on top in the second round of the elections on July 7th. The current caretaker government is just supposed to handle “day to day business”, but this has not stopped Emmanuel Macron and caretaker premier Gabriel Attal from governing almost as if nothing has changed, and with aspirations to continue doing so.
