Macron’s Ex-Premier Seeks Center-Right Accord to Form Government

(Bloomberg) -- French President Emmanuel Macron’s former prime minister, Edouard Philippe, called for parties of the center and center-right to join forces to form a new government as political jockeying gains steam in the aftermath of a snap election that has left the country’s parliament deeply divided.

“I think we can bring together a block” which “can have a relative majority,” Philippe, the head of Horizons, a right-leaning party allied with Macron’s group, said in an interview on TF1 television late Tuesday. 

His comments come as a complex split in the French National Assembly sets the stage for unprecedented deal-making to form a lasting ruling coalition. While the left-wing alliance, New Popular Front — which includes the Socialists, the Greens and the far-left France Unbowed — now have more lawmakers than Macron’s party, it’s way short of an outright majority. 

Making his case for an accord, Philippe pointed out that Macron’s group and the conservative Republicans collectively have about 220 seats, and that a pact between them would create the parliament’s biggest group — beating the New Popular Front with 182 seats. 

“I don’t think we’ll agree on a coalition,” he said, adding that it could be “technical agreement” to “manage the country for at least a year.” 

After pushing his country into political disarray with snap legislative elections, Macron has to choose a prime minister — a decision that will be closely watched. He needs to find a candidate who can survive no-confidence votes in a divided lower house of parliament. Macron, whose centrist party lost its absolute majority in 2022, has seen his power base shrink further, squeezed between Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and a resurgent left.

With no defined deadline for when he names a new prime minister, the process could take some time. For now, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal remains in place, conducting the business of government. The New Popular Front urged Macron not to keep Attal in the prime minister role for long, calling on him to quickly name someone from its alliance — even as it struggles to come up with a consensus candidate.

Also Read: France’s Left Appeals to Macron Allies in Coalition Maneuver

On Monday, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, threw his hat in the ring, saying in an interview on LCI TV, “I feel capable and would hold the line.”

Olivier Faure, the head of the Socialist Party, on Tuesday said that he expects the leftist alliance to coalesce around a candidate for prime minister in a matter of days. He added that the parties that make up the alliance would need to reach a consensus rather than impose anyone. 

“I’m ready to take on this role,” Faure said, effectively announcing his candidacy.

Earlier in the day, his party extended an olive branch to some lawmakers of Macron’s movement, especially its left-leaning members.

“We are clear-sighted but not sectarian, so those who want to meet us on these bases — I’m thinking, notably, about left-wing Macronists — we’ll be open,” Johanna Rolland, the Socialists’ chief negotiator and the mayor of Nantes, in western France, told France 2 TV. 

For his part, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said all sides should try to build a “majority of projects” that would continue to defend supply-side policies rather than spending to juice demand. Compromises could involve doing more to boost personal incomes by reducing the tax burden on wages, or strengthening mechanisms to share profits with workers, he said.

“I invite all the Socialists and social democrats to come back to this supply side policy they defended for years,” he said during a briefing with journalists on Tuesday. “We are open and ready.”

The vote has thrown the spotlight on France’s fiscal deficit, especially with every major political group proposing billions of euros in new spending, including the parties supporting Macron. 

That has translated into the extra yield investors are demanding to hold French bonds over German securities. And even though the riskiest political outcomes for France’s deficit — a solid majority for the far-right National Rally or the leftist New Popular Front coalition — didn’t materialize, any new French government will likely struggle to drive more economic reforms or find common ground on fiscal policy.

“France today is very hard to govern, and in truth, whichever blocks gets into power, whether with 182 seats or 220 seats, it will be very hard to meet the expectations of the French” and put in place the necessary reforms for the country, Philippe said.

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