French president invites parliamentary party leaders to end ongoing political crisis

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - French President Emmanuel Macron invited leaders of parliamentary parties to the Elysee Palace on Tuesday in a bid to resolve the country's ongoing political crisis and form a "government of national interest."

However, far-right and far-left parties were excluded from the talks, Le Monde reported.

This marks the first time Macron has gathered representatives from all parliamentary groups around a single table, a move reminiscent of his 2023 Saint-Denis consultations.

Unlike those earlier meetings, the president chose not to invite the far-right National Rally (RN) or far-left France Unbowed (LFI), accusing them of forming an “anti-republican front” by supporting a no-confidence motion against the government on Dec. 4.

“Their representatives have not demonstrated a willingness to compromise,” explained a source close to the president.

In contrast, socialist, ecological, and communist parties, which also backed the censure motion, were invited after showing "goodwill" and a readiness to engage in dialogue, the source added.

Olivier Faure, the Socialist Party's first secretary, recently signaled openness to concessions, saying last week that his party was willing to discuss potential agreements with Macron’s centrist bloc and the conservative Republicans (LR).

- Aiming for compromise

The meeting aims to establish a framework for cooperation as Macron seeks to stabilize his minority government.

According to Elysee officials, the goal is to develop a method for building consensus and creating a government capable of ensuring “reasonable stability.”

“Macron is setting the stage and will step back to allow party leaders to negotiate,” said Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of the Ecologists, in an interview with France Info.

The initiative follows Macron’s July 10 call for "sincere and loyal dialogue" among political forces to form a pluralistic majority, an appeal that largely went unanswered. With this latest effort, Macron hopes to foster a spirit of compromise that could lead to the formation of a new government capable of addressing France’s pressing challenges.

- Political instability haunts country since June

The country has been in political upheaval since June when Macron's centrist bloc failed and the far-right RN won the European Parliament elections.

In response, Macron called for two rounds of snap parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, but no party won 289 seats, a threshold to achieve an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

The left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) won the most votes and seats in parliament in the second round and later insisted that the prime minister must be from the alliance, but failed to nominate a consensus candidate for the position immediately.

After weeks of internal divisions, the NFP nominated Lucie Castets for prime minister on July 23.

However, President Macron rejected a left-wing candidate and said he would not appoint a premier until mid-August after the Paris Olympics.

He faced criticism for delaying the process, fueling further instability after he accepted then-Premier Gabriel Attal's resignation on July 16 after initially rejecting it on July 8.

On Sept. 5, Macron finally appointed Michel Barnier, a center-right politician, former European commissioner, and former foreign minister, as the prime minister.

Barnier's government has become the first one to collapse with a no-confidence vote since 1962.