In France, there is no new government in sight after the parliamentary elections.
Following the defeat of President Emmanuel Macron’s centre-right coalition, the victorious left-wing alliance has so far failed to agree on a candidate for the office of prime minister and to find other partners for a governing majority in parliament.
The presidential camp’s efforts to persuade the conservative Republicans, the Socialists or other partners to form a grand coalition or to tolerate a minority government have so far yielded no results.
At a meeting with leading representatives of his camp in the Élysée Palace, Macron lamented the “catastrophic spectacle” that his camp had presented this week, the newspapers “Le Figaro” and “Le Parisien” reported, citing participants.
The new left-wing alliance of the Greens, Socialists, Communists and the left-wing party La France Insoumise has been insisting for days that the President quickly appoint a new Prime Minister from his ranks. However, the internal search for candidates remains difficult. “We cannot reach an agreement between the proposals of La France Insoumise and the Socialists,” said Communist leader Fabien Roussel, as reported by the “Figaro”. Both parties are striving for dominance in the left-wing alliance.
According to information from the newspaper “Les Échos”, the Socialists want to push through their leader Olivier Faure as their candidate in the showdown, while the Left Party, despite naming various possible candidates, is essentially trying to install its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon as prime minister. With his autocratic and polemical actions, Mélenchon has become a thorn in the side of many, even within his own party. But the old left-wing strategist has not yet announced his retirement.
Next Thursday, the newly elected National Assembly will meet for its inaugural session. If the current government camp has not found a way to secure power through a coalition, Macron will nevertheless accept Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation request, which was initially rejected “for the stability of the country”, reported “Le Figaro” and “Le Parisien”.
Attal and his government team would then only remain in office in an acting capacity, but they cannot be overthrown by a vote of no confidence.
Macron dissolved the National Assembly in June after his party’s bitter defeat in the European elections and announced new elections. He was counting on expanding the relative majority of his centrist forces in the lower house. Instead, his camp ended up in second place behind the left-wing alliance, ahead of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), which had long been considered the favorite in the election after the results of the first round of voting and polls.