Legislative. Huguette Bello announces “decline the offer” to become Prime Minister on behalf of the NFP

The president of the Réunion region, Huguette Bello, announced on Sunday that she was “immediately declining the offer” to become Prime Minister on behalf of the New Popular Front (NFP), due to the lack of an agreement between the left-wing partners.

In a press release, Huguette Bello said she “acknowledged” that her candidacy “is not the subject of a consensus between all the components of the New Popular Front, and in particular that it is not supported by the Socialist Party.” “Under these conditions and anxious for a rapid agreement within the NFP, I have decided to decline without further delay the offer that was made to me,” she added.

A proposal rejected by the socialists

The name of Huguette Bello, who was a member of parliament for 23 years within the communist group, was mentioned on Wednesday evening by the leader of the PCF Fabien Roussel during negotiations between left-wing allies.

The proposal was quickly accepted by the Insoumis, to whom Huguette Bello is close. “She is an exceptional political leader,” LFI MP Clémence Guetté insisted on France Inter on Sunday morning, stressing that she “had proven that she knew how to lead an executive” and that she “had a life of fighting and activism on her side.”

But the PS, which held its National Council on Saturday evening, rejected this candidacy and called for discussions to continue. “No name has reached consensus” among the NFP partners “at this stage”, PS Secretary General Pierre Jouvet had said on Saturday.

In the process, the coordinator of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard accused the PS of “blocking everything” by this refusal, after six days of negotiations to try to form a left-wing government after the legislative elections. The deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône convened his party’s authorities on Sunday at 12 noon “to analyze the meaning of the constant blockages of the Socialist Party against any candidacy other than that of its first secretary, Olivier Faure.”

“We were waiting to understand what political arguments” the PS “opposed to Huguette Bello’s candidacy, we didn’t get any,” lamented Clémence Guetté on Sunday. “We will continue to talk to each other, that’s obvious,” she said. “It’s normal that these discussions are demanding and don’t happen in a minute,” she added.