After two weeks since the legislative elections in France, which left a Parliament divided into three blocs with none having a majority to govern, the left, which went to the polls united and managed to defeat the center-right of Emmanuel Macron and the far-right of Marine Le Pen, has reached an agreement on their candidate for a possible prime minister. They will present it to Macron but the president has the final say.
The left claims their victory but has had two weeks of fruitless discussions. Finally, they have reached an agreement, and the candidate will be Lucie Castets, an economist not affiliated with any of the parties in the bloc (dubbed as the New Popular Front): socialists, ecologists, communists, and La France Insoumise, a party led by the controversial Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The disagreements within the bloc, especially with the latter party, considered far-left, have complicated negotiations to find a consensus candidate. As the left came out ahead in the polls and has more seats than the other factions, it would be logical that Emmanuel Macron had requested a political truce during the Paris Olympics starting this Friday. The government resigned and is in caretaker status precisely to ensure the smooth running of the games.
Castets, 37, is "committed to associative struggle for the defense and promotion of public services, but also in the fight of ideas," as stated in a joint statement by the New Popular Front.
Castets was the finance director at the Paris City Hall, led by the socialist Anne Hidalgo, and is in favor, for example, of calling for the repeal of the pension reform, which is the main reform of Emmanuel Macron's second term. It raises the retirement age to 64 and was highly controversial and protested in the streets. It was approved after months of violent protests, making it unlikely that Macron will accept this profile for the prime minister position.
In an interview on France 2 television, the first one after the legislative elections, Macron stated, "It's not about choosing a name, but about finding someone who can generate consensus in the Assembly."
The Macronist camp achieved its first victory last week when their candidate for the presidency of the French Assembly, Yael Braun-Pivet, renewed her mandate by winning the vote in Parliament.