Spanish
French President Emmanuel Macron receives this Friday at the Élysée Palace the leaders of the political parties with parliamentary representation except for the far-right Marine Le Pen and the leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, before the expected announcement of a prime minister.
The different participants have been arriving gradually at the presidential headquarters around 2:30 PM local time (12:30 GMT), which was the time of the meeting.
The representatives of the left have done it together, while the leaders of the different Macronist families have come separately.
Also arriving separately were the two representatives of the moderate right, the president of the Les Républicains party, Bruno Retailleau, current acting Minister of the Interior, and the leader of their parliamentary group, Laurent Wauquiez, who hold different positions regarding the future.
A meeting interpreted as an attempt to get the country out of the deadlock it finds itself in after the resignation last Monday of the last head of government, the Macronist Sébastien Lecornu.
Macron summoned them at dawn to this meeting without specifying more details in the invitation, apart from the time.
But no one doubts that at the center of the debate will be the new prime minister and the critical political situation that France is going through.
The president pledged last Wednesday to appoint a new head of government before the night of this Friday, after Lecornu received the different political groups to assess the options for an agreement that avoids an early general election.
All political leaders have responded to Macron's invitation, from the moderate right, the center, the Macronists, socialists, communists and environmentalists, as well as other minority parties in the lower house.
The president must thus discuss with a group of parties that are hostile to him, including the Macronists, who in recent days have multiplied their criticisms of the head of state.
It is the case of two of its former prime ministers, Edouard Philippe, who requested the president's resignation after approving the 2026 budgets, and Gabriel Attal, who leads the Macronist party, and who has assured that he does not understand the decisions his mentor is making.
The animosity has also been growing among the moderate right, opposed to remaining in the Government with the Macronists, while the representatives of the left demand a break with current policies and the appointment of a Government of their political color.
The big absentees from the meeting will be Le Pen and Mélenchon, leaders of the two largest groups in the National Assembly.
The first, spurred by the good results predicted by polls, demands the advance of the legislative elections if Macron does not want to resign, while the second demands that the president leave and has tried, so far unsuccessfully, to have motions of impeachment prosper.
Macron should appoint a prime minister this Friday who will have as their first mission to present a draft budget, something that must be done this Monday if the deadlines are to be met for it to be approved by the chambers before December 31.
