France's Macron back to square one as left plans protests over political crisis

France's Macron back to square one as left plans protests over political crisis

France's Socialists and Greens will not participate in further talks with President Emmanuel Macron to find a way out of political deadlock, their leaders said on Tuesday, calling on their supporters to hold peaceful protests instead.

Macron slammed the door on a potential leftist government on Monday, saying it would be immediately removed from power by a majority of lawmakers from other camps. Instead, he embarked on another round of talks with party leaders on Tuesday.

But facing a hung parliament in which each of the three almost equal groupings - the left, Macron's centrist bloc and the far-right National Rally - have ruled out forming a coalition, the president appeared to be back to square one.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

A wake-up call: The countdown for Latin American democracy — Opinion

"This election is being stolen from us," Green party chief Marine Tondelier told local radio.

"We're not going to continue these sham consultations with a president who doesn't listen anyway ... and is obsessed with keeping control. He's not looking for a solution, he's trying to obstruct it," Tondelier said.

Socialist Party president Olivier Faure told France 2 television he would not engage in what he called a "parody of democracy" now the prospect of a leftist-led government was off the table.

The LFI, a hard-left party within the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance that won the most seats in a snap parliamentary election this summer, called for a mass protest against Macron on Sept. 7.

NFP leaders have repeatedly asserted that France's next prime minister should come from their ranks, but Macron has ignored their claims. Macron, a pro-business centrist, thinks the balance of power lies more with the centre or centre-right.