Newly elected French MPs enter into talks to see who can form next government
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00We'll start in France, where negotiations are still underway as the country's left-leaning
00:04political alliance tries to figure out how best to form a government.
00:08The New Popular Front, as it's known, came out on top in parliamentary elections two
00:12days ago, but does not have a full majority.
00:16Leaders from the bloc that ranges from communists to environmentalists to moderate socialists
00:20say they hope to come up with a name for prime minister within the week.
00:25In the meantime, the centrist French president Emmanuel Macron has asked his current prime
00:28minister Gabrielle Attal to stay in the job, at least for now.
00:32We're going to talk more about all of this with Luke Brown, who is at the French National
00:36Assembly, where many of these new MPs are showing up today.
00:39Today's a big day, particularly for the New Popular Front.
00:42It's first ever at the National Assembly as a group.
00:45Luke, you've been talking to some MPs from the farthest left of the coalition, François
00:50N'Baud.
00:51First of all, what did they have to say going in?
00:53Yeah, you're quite right.
00:56It's a very big day indeed for the New Popular Front here at the National Assembly.
00:59They're arriving in different party groups here at the Palais Bourbon.
01:04Earlier, we've already had the Greens, but we've also had that hard-left France, N'Baud
01:09MPs.
01:10Now, they consider themselves to be very much in a position of strength, given that they
01:14got over 70 seats.
01:16They are the biggest single party in the New Popular Front coalition.
01:20That gives them a position of strength when it comes to choosing the top jobs and choosing
01:24the top job of the Prime Minister, and puts them in a pole position, perhaps, that could
01:29well be Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidates of the MPs here.
01:32They're not ruling his name out, but they are also putting forward other names.
01:36We spoke earlier with Mathilde Pannot of the France N'Baud, recently re-elected in the
01:41Paris region.
01:42Let's take a listen to what exactly she had to say about the situation.
01:48There's a tradition in this country that when there's a coalition made up of multiple parties
01:52and groups, it is the largest group in the National Assembly that proposes to its partners
01:57the name of a possible Prime Minister.
02:01That's what's supposed to happen.
02:02That's the Republic's tradition.
02:04But I can tell you that I'm waiting.
02:06We're discussing with our partners.
02:08Talks are going well and moving forward.
02:11By the end of the week, we will not only have a Prime Ministerial candidate, but we'll also
02:15have a government team that will include the top positions, which are namely those at the
02:19National Assembly.
02:20OK.
02:21And of course, there's also been a lot of talk about the potential divisions and splits
02:30within the new Popular Front already, just a couple of days after those elections.
02:33Mathilde Pannot indicating that any of the MPs from the other groups, if they were to
02:38go and talk to other centrists, for example, groups within the National Assembly, that
02:43would be considered a betrayal by her party, but also by the French people.
02:48A clear message then to the other members of the new Popular Front.
02:53Right.
02:54And this coalition, again, just to remind everyone, ranges from the very far left to
02:57almost close to the center.
02:59What have other members of the Alliance had to say so far today?
03:02Well, in the next half an hour or so, we are expecting the Socialist Party to arrive.
03:08It's going to be fascinating to see what's going to be the message that they deliver
03:12to the journalists on their arrival here at the Palais of Bourbon.
03:15Of course, it is a slightly strange situation that they emerged second biggest in the new
03:20Popular Front.
03:21But however, their dynamic is more on their side.
03:23They gained more seats in this new National Assembly than, for example, the France Unbound.
03:27There have already been attempts from the centrists, the big guns in the centrists,
03:32from Stéphane Séjourné, the former foreign minister, François Bayrou, one of the historic
03:37centrist figures, was ready to peel away some of the Social Democrats from the new Popular
03:43Front.
03:44As things stand, we're not getting indication that that is something that the socialists
03:48are wanting to accept, and they're pretty unwilling to break ranks so far, keeping very
03:53tight-lipped.
03:54But we'll, of course, learn more about that.
03:56But from the others, the other junior members of this new coalition, for example, some of
04:01the communist MPs we've been speaking to, they say they want a figure as prime minister
04:05who will bring people together and not a divisive figure.
04:08That means for them that probably rules out Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has proved to be
04:11very divisive over this campaign season.
04:14And also we've been speaking to the Greens.
04:16Now they are another interesting party, because they did a lot better than perhaps had been
04:21expected in Sunday's vote, with 33 MPs elected from the Greens.
04:25Their leader, Marine Tendelier, has been extremely vocal over the past couple of days.
04:31They've been a very voice of moderation, it has to be said, within the new Popular Front.
04:35Let's take a listen to Marie Pochon, an MP elected from the south of France, about why
04:40the focus is now less on the divisions within the party, but need to continue turning the
04:45page on the Macron era.
04:48I think our responsibility today is to put a certain number of measures in place that
04:53break with the politics of these past few years, to do politics differently.
04:59We need to change the method, to listen, to show respect, to keep our promises and to
05:04think of each person regardless of where they live.
05:07That means a lot in regard to public services, health care, public schools, especially in
05:12our countrysides.
05:13I will fight for that.