Emmanuel Macron in crisis? French president-elect accused of deal breaking
EMMANUEL Macron has been accused of breaking a deal with a vital political ally ahead of the French parliamentary election as he struggles to find candidates for the vote.
Emmanuel Macron clashed with ally Francois Bayrou over election candidates
The president-elect sent shockwaves through France’s political established when he won the presidency under the banner of his one-year-old centrist party La République En Marche.
Tasked with securing enough seats in the French National Assembly next month to push through his business-friendly economic agenda, 39-year-old Emmanuel Macron sparked outrage with his list of candidates.
A row broke out after Mr Macron published a list of 428 candidates - around half have never held elected office before and including around 24 defecting Socialist politicians.
When I gave him my support, he was at 18 per cent. We got him elected
Centrist ally Francois Bayrou, whose MoDem party backed Mr Macron against the Front National’s Marine Le Pen, accused the president-elect of breaking a political pact and branded the list “a recycling operation of the Socialist party”.
He told Le Nouvel Observateur magazine that he and Mr Macron agreed before the French election that MoDem candidates would be allocated around a quarter of constituencies to reflect their support during the presidential campaign.
He said: “When I gave him my support, he was at 18 per cent. We got him elected.”
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Continuing his attack, Mr Bayrou told Le Monde: “The most optimistic explanation is amateurism. These are inexperienced apparatchiks who’ve taken charge in order to manipulate things in favour of the Socialist party. They’ve created a machine that’s out of their control.”
Mr Macron has already made room in the parliament he wants to see for former Socialist prime minister Manuel Valls. His team promised not to put up a candidate against a man who represents a wing of the party whose political views are close to Mr Macron's.
En Marche has made clear the way is open for more deals of this kind with other leading Socialists from the party's right wing and with left-leaning lawmakers among the Republicans.
Francois Bayrou said he made a pact with Mr Macron before the presidential election
Mr Bayrou said his party won Mr Macron the presidency
In seats held by people who are potential allies it is holding back from putting forward an En Marche candidate, for the time being.
The row prompted a day of crisis talks between party officials and Mr Macron, with Mr Bayrou saying they eventually reached “a solid and balanced” agreement over the candidacy list.
But the uproar indicates the first signs of tension in the Macron administration since he was elected.
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He will be inaugurated tomorrow in a ceremony at the Élysée Palace with his wife Brigitte, 64, and is set to go to Berlin on Monday in his first trip as head of state for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She has called for close co-operation to share European policy.
Ms Merkel said: "We will do everything not only to help France but also to shape the European path with France.”