The French government will resign on Tuesday evening after Prime Minister Gabriel Attal failed to secure a majority for the presidential camp in legislative elections, but it will remain in charge of current affairs for “a few weeks”, most likely until the end of the sensitive period of the Olympic Games, which will be held in France from July 26 to August 11.
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Under French President Emmanuel Macron, the government held its first ministerial meeting at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday since the anti-immigration elections, convened by the head of state after his partisan cooking for European elections began in June.
In the legislative elections, the left-wing coalition of the New Popular Front won the largest number of seats, but did not obtain an absolute majority in the National Assembly, which is now divided into three blocs: the New National Front (190 to 195 seats), the centre-right presidential camp (about 160 seats), and the far-right and its allies (143 seats).
Macron suggested on Tuesday in the cabinet that this situation of a resigned government – and therefore with a minimal political role – could “last for a certain period”, “a few weeks”, perhaps until the end of next year. The Olympic Games in less than that, according to participants interviewed by AFP.
This new configuration would ensure “in the name of continuity, a minimum performance of the French State,” explains a memorandum from the General Secretariat of the Government (SGG) dated July 2.
Macron thanked the ministers on Tuesday. Gabriel Attal, for his part, spoke of his “recognition” to the members of the government and to the head of state, of his “passion for France” and of his “duty”, “including in the specific period that we have to go through”, one of the ministers said.
Another participant explained that “there was no tension and no flow,” despite the now blatant differences between the heads of the executive authority since the dissolution of the council and the upcoming legislative elections.
This resignation will in particular allow the elected members of the government to regain their parliamentary mandate to participate in the elections for the presidency of the National Assembly on Thursday, a highly strategic position known as the seat for which negotiations are going well.
The divided left
This transitional period also provides little time for different political groups to try to build compromises and create alliances.
The presidential camp is trying to build an alternative majority to the left: once again, all eyes are on the right-wing Republicans and their 40 deputies.
Emmanuel Macron estimated on Tuesday in the cabinet that his camp should “put a proposal on the table with the aim of forming a majority coalition or a broad legislative agreement,” according to one participant.
On the left, discussions to present a candidate for prime minister remain tense, with the leader of the France Insulting (LFI – radical left) Jean-Luc Mélenchon refusing to pursue these proposals as long as he is a joint candidate for prime minister. No perch has been found.
The Socialists, Communists and ecologists returned to the accusation on Monday evening with the suggestion of climate expert Laurence Tubiana, 73, who describes herself as a “left-wing woman and environmentalist.”
But this option was ruled out by LFI, the movement's coordinator Manuel Bompard, who considered the proposal “not serious”.
At the heart of this political uncertainty, one thing is certain for the future French government: it will restore public finances in the red.
In a thick report presented on Monday, the Court of Auditors made a worrying assessment, as France's debt rose to nearly €3.160 billion at the end of March (or nearly 111% of GDP, against 60% according to European standards). The president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, warned that the need to reduce this debt is a “necessity” in which “all political forces must participate”.
