News - Leader of France’s Socialist Party declines to negotiate with Macron

The First Secretary of the Socialist Party of France, Olivier Faure, has declined to negotiate with President Emmanuel Macron on the formation of a new government—after Macron did not accept the program of the left coalition. "I refuse to participate in that simulation of democracy. What is it going to tell us?" Faure said on France 2 television. In his opinion, the French president cannot propose any decision for the settlement of the current problems, but he also refused to accept the proposal of the New Popular Front left coalition. Also, the leader of France’s Socialists believes that Macron does not want to return to the discussion of the pension reform that was passed in the parliament in a controversial manner. Faure expressed surprise that despite the concessions by the left-wing La France Insoumise party, which agreed not to submit candidates for ministerial positions because the other parties had pledged to express no confidence in their participation in the government, Macron still did not accept the proposal of the left. "We understand that their problem is not La France Insoumise, but the left. Their problem is the French, the voting results. ‘I win, you lose’—this is what democracy is like according to Macron and his friends," Faure said. He added that the Socialist Party will not participate in the coalition government, where right-wing republicans and centrists are actively calling for it. "We are being asked to support endless Macronia. My answer is no. And we are against any extension of Macronism," Faure said.