PARIS
\nFrench party leaders will gather at President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s Elysee Palace office Tuesday afternoon in a bid to chart a route toward a new government, days after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was toppled in a confidence vote.
\nShutting out the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), the effort to find a way forward comes as caretaker ministers scramble to clarify France\u2019s 2025 finances, after the previous administration fell over its cost-cutting budget plans.
\n\u201cThe aim is to move forward with a deal about a method\u201d to build a new government on the unstable foundations of a hung parliament, people close to Macron said late Monday.
\nBarnier had been supported by conservative Republicans and Macron\u2019s centrist camp, but the shaky alliance was far short of an overall majority in a National Assembly split three ways with the NFP left alliance and the RN.
\nIt is unclear how leaders could build a broader base of support for any new government.
\nMost are unwilling to compromise on pet issues such as last year\u2019s unpopular pension reform, or to tarnish their image with voters by compromising ahead of potential new elections next year.
\n\u201cWe will not participate in a government of \u2018national interest\u2019 with the Republicans or Macronists or whoever,\u201d Greens party leader Marine Tondelier said Monday \u2014 a position mirrored by Republicans chief Laurent Wauqiez.
\nIn a letter late Sunday, Socialist leaders told Macron they were open to \u201cdialogue and pitting points of view against one another\u201d to \u201cfind an exit from this deadlock situation that\u2019s harmful to the French public.\u201d
\nBut they added that they would not join a technocratic government or one run by a prime minister from the right, and called for \u201ca true change of political course\u201d on \u201cpensions, purchasing power and tax justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing so many parties together around one table marked progress from Macron\u2019s first attempt to reach consensus after July\u2019s snap election, commentator Guillaume Tabard wrote in conservative daily Le Figaro.
\n\u201cBut if even a minimal deal is to be found ranging from the Republicans to the Communists, it will require an enormous labor of negotiation that will take days or weeks,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cThe promise to quickly replace Barnier, yet again issued with confidence, will once again be betrayed.\u201d
\nIn an apparent acknowledgement that progress will be slow, Macron\u2019s office said that a special budget law to allow the French state to keep functioning would be presented to caretaker ministers Wednesday on its way to parliament.
\nIts three measures include authorizing the government to continue raising existing taxes until a new budget is passed by MPs, a ministerial source told AFP.
\nThe state and the social security system will also be allowed to continue borrowing on financial markets to avoid any interruption of payments, the source added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS French party leaders will gather at President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s Elysee Palace office Tuesday afternoon in a bid to chart a route toward a new government, days after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was toppled in a confidence vote. Shutting out the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), the effort to find a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-448616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n