The French Left Criticizes Macron for Delaying Prime Minister Appointment

French President Emmanuel Macron, July 23, 2024. Photo: X/ @realmarcel1

July 24, 2024 Hour: 8:38 am

Manuel Bompard said Macron is clinging to power and refusing to accept that the French have told him his policy is over.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that he will not pick a new prime minister before the end of the Olympic Games to avoid “disorder.”

“This government has prepared the Games, and our responsibility is to make sure they go well,” Macron said during an interview with France 2 channel, adding that he has chosen “stability” to safeguard the Games, which gather nearly 10,500 athletes and millions of fans.

As the change of the prime minister and the appointment of a new government would create “chaos,” Marcon called on political parties to seek compromises in the country’s parliament in the absence of an absolute majority.

On Wednesday, the French left harshly criticized Macron for hindering the appointment of its candidate, Lucie Castets, as prime minister. This senior official at the Paris City Council is a 37-year-old economist specializing in the fight against fraud and a founding member of the organization Our Public Services.

"Les effectifs ont été de plus en plus réduits en matière de lutte contre la fraude fiscale" pendant les quinquennats d'Emmanuel Macron, dénonce @CastetsLucie. #le69inter pic.twitter.com/hEKAjSW2oZ
— France Inter (@franceinter) July 24, 2024

The text reads, “Little by little, we are destroying the meaning of public service and depriving it of its main objective: satisfying the needs of the people. Lucie Castets denounced that the workforce was increasingly reduced in the fight against tax fraud during Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term.”

She denounced that the attitude adopted by the French president amounts to “a denial of democracy” given that she was proposed by the New Popular Front (NFP), the political force that finished first in the latest elections.

Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of The Rebellious France (LFI), said Macron is clinging to power and refusing to accept the idea that the French have told him his policy is over.

Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist Party, also criticized Macron’s attitude because “when elections are called with the risk of chaos, the result must be respected.” In a similar vein, the head of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, stated that Macron “has never wanted to listen to the people.”

Gabriel Attal submitted his resignation as prime minister to Macron on July 8 after the ruling party failed to secure a majority in the snap legislative elections. On July 16, Macron accepted Attal’s resignation, but asked him to stay as the head of a caretaker cabinet until the formation of a new administration.