French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday gathered leaders of parties from across the political spectrum – including his biggest rivals – for “frank” and “direct” discussions that he hopes will break the deadlock of a hung parliament.
The closed-door talks, which the Elysée said would include two roundtables and a dinner, are taking place at the school of the Legion of Honour in the working-class suburb of Saint-Denis, just outside of Paris.
On the agenda are international affairs, institutional reforms, immigration, education, integration, inequality and authority – issues that have largely come to the fore following riots in recent months over the police killing of a teenager during a traffic stop.
Bid for unity
Macron, who’s been deprived of an absolute majority in the National Assembly since last year’s parliamentary elections, has said the event – which is unprecedented – is in the spirit of "working together" for the benefit of French voters.
A program unveiled by the Elysée said the talks would look at ensuring the cohesion of the nation by “uniting French men and women around a common republican foundation".
Discussions are closed to the media to give credibility to the process and to allow participants to "speak without taboos", the Elysée said, in an effort to create the conditions needed to reach consensus on legislative texts or referendums.
Macron has promised to work together on writing new laws and, if needed, on organising referendums to break political deadlock.
'Preferendum'
One idea that has been mooted is a so-called “preferendum”, or non-binding public consultation that would offer voters multiple choice questions on issues such as immigration or education.
Conservatives and the far right have already called for referendums on immigration while the leftwing Nupes alliance wants voters to have a direct say on controversial pension reform, which has already been forced through parliament.
French media reports, however, said some opposition leaders had expressed their mistrust at Wednesday’s gathering they said could only be a political trap.
The school venue, now known as the Legion of Honour Maison of Education, was an institution created by Napoleon for girls whose fathers received France’s highest order. Access is still determined by strict hereditary rights – though it’s being promoted by the government as a "symbol of republican meritocracy".
The school is a stone’s throw from the Basilica of Saint-Denis, a former royal abbey that contains the tombs of nearly every French king from the 10th century to Louis XVIII in the 19th century.
