The broader leftist coalition — under the banner of the New Popular Front — is falling out already. Its leaders on Sunday evening were sending conflicting messages about their goals.
While Mélenchon said the left would apply “our manifesto, nothing but our manifesto,” the MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, leader of a smaller party in the alliance, appeared more conciliatory, offering to “talk, debate and change political culture.”
What might emerge from the mess?
There’s no easy answer to this one. As no party has won outright, it’s possible the president could opt for a cooling off period that will give parties time to hold coalition talks.
Macron could then sound out a left-wing figure to form a government, given that the left has emerged as the largest group in parliament.
The Socialist Party for instance has entirely not ruled out building a wider coalition but it’s unlikely that Mélenchon’s France Unbowed would agree to watering down its manifesto.
Alternatively, Macron could appoint a caretaker government, keeping Attal as PM. He could even adopt the Italian model and nominate a technocratic team of experts under a consensual figure. Such an administration would refrain from making ambitious plans and focus on keeping the wheels of the state in motion.
Such a limited administration would rest on a tacit agreement between diametrically opposed parties to refrain from toppling it, if only to reassure the markets and international partners.
But a caretaker or experts’ government “risks being very frustrating democratically,” warned Morel, the political analyst. “The French voted massively, the centre was defeated, and if it ends with Attal staying on as prime minister, it’s not a good thing for France’s democracy.”
