The left-wing La France insoumise (LFI) party announced on Friday evening that it was refusing to go to the Elysée Palace on Monday for consultations with French President Emmanuel Macron with a view to appointing a new prime minister and government.
"We are ready to govern on the programme for which we were elected," LFI national coordinator Manuel Bompard wrote in a statement, adding that “no discussion other than the appointment of a New Popular Front government can take place with the head of state.”
"We will therefore not be going to the Elysée Palace this Monday," he stressed.
The refusal by Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party contrasts with the gestures of openness shown during the day by Socialist Party First Secretary Olivier Faure, who said he was ready for talks with the Macronists and with the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party on the basis of "reciprocal concessions" in order to break the institutional deadlock.
Olivier Faure and the leaders of the Socialist parliamentary groups, Boris Vallaud and Patrick Kanner, were received at midday on Friday by Emmanuel Macron, whom they asked to appoint a left-wing Prime Minister.
Macron also received, on Friday, representatives of Les Républicains (LR) party and two from the central bloc made up of the parties that support him.
On Monday, he had invited the Ecologists, who are reserving their response until Saturday, along with the Communists, who will indeed attend the meeting, and LFI.
According to several people close to him and those he spoke to, the head of state is considering appointing a new prime minister as early as Monday, following the toppling of Michel Barnier's government by a parliamentary no-confidence vote on Wednesday.
