The Socialists in France are calling on President Emmanuel Macron to quickly appoint a new prime minister following the end of the Olympic Games in Paris.
“He cannot block the institutions and the country in this way for much longer,” said Socialist spokeswoman Chloé Ridel on France Inter radio on Monday. She pointed out that the budget for the coming year would have to be finalized soon.
Macron had insisted that he would not appoint a new head of government until after the Olympic Games, which ended on Sunday, at the earliest. “It is clear that we are not in a situation where we can change things until mid-August because we would create disorder,” the president had said.
Ridel said that Macron should admit that his policies had been punished by the voters, and that a new prime minister would have to come from the ranks of the left-wing alliance that had surprisingly won the election.
Ridel also emphasized that the Socialists saw their role as working within this alliance alongside the Greens, Communists and the left-wing party La France Insoumise.
On Sud Radio, the caretaker government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot spoke in favour of cooperation between all political forces, from the Socialists to the Conservatives, as Macron had already done.
When asked about the length of the search for a government, she warned that a coalition would not be created in just a few days but assured listeners that the current caretaker government would not go on forever.
The left-wing alliance New Popular Front surprisingly came out on top in the snap National Assembly elections a month ago. Macron’s centrist forces slumped to second place, while the right-wing nationalist National Rally led by Marine Le Pen came third. No camp has an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
