The President of the Republic has still not made a decision on Gabriel Attal’s successor at Matignon. Now that the Olympic Games are over, the left intends to put the pressure back on, still hoping to secure the nomination of Lucie Castets.
Unanimity never lasts very long in politics. Only a few hours after the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics, on Sunday, August 11, have we seen the “Olympic Truce” decreed by Emmanuel Macron to shatter. More than a month after the second round of the legislative elections of July 7, the President of the Republic has still not appointed a new Prime Minister. Harshly punished at the ballot box, the Macronist deputies are now only the second group in the National Assembly, behind the 193 elected members of the New Popular Front (NFP).
The Lucie Castets hypothesis, designated on July 23 as the candidate of the left-wing coalition for Matignon, was immediately swept aside by the Head of State before the Games. Now on vacation at Fort Brégançon (Var), Emmanuel Macron continues the consultations. Rumors are flying, but nothing is filtering through. Officially, the President of the Republic is still waiting for a coalition, bringing together the “political forces recognizing themselves in republican institutions”is emerging. Some are still hoping for a coalition going from the PS to the LR, but this option is still rejected by the socialists, who do not intend, at this stage, to leave the NFP.
Five weeks after the head of state’s appeal to the parties, his strategy has yielded nothing and all he can do is hope that an atmosphere of national harmony will win over politicians. “The Olympics are the demonstration that France, when it comes together, can do great things”he pleaded with The Team in an interview published Monday. “Three years ago, the mayor of Paris [Anne Hidalgo]the president of the Ile-de-France region [Valérie Pécresse] and I were competing against each other for the presidential election. And yet, we worked together.”stressed the President of the Republic.
Some in the presidential camp are hoping for a quick decision, as early as the week of August 19. Others are arguing for a little more time. “We are in a new political context, where we must learn to work together”underlines the spokesperson for the resigning government, Prisca Thevenot, to franceinfo. “It’s normal that it takes time, even if we are used to a political time punctuated by emergencies”she explains, recalling that “in other European countries [comme l’Allemagne ou l’Espagne]forming coalitions takes time”.
The President of the Republic, who has been playing the “master of clocks” for over a month, will not be able to let the situation drag on indefinitely, some of his supporters warn. The next government will, for example, have to urgently work on the draft finance bill (PLF) for 2025, which must be presented to Parliament before October 1, while sending a plan to the European Commission before September 20 after the opening of an excessive deficit offence.
“We must not play for time, that would be incomprehensible to the French”judged the Macronist senator François Patriat at Parisian Tuesday. “All the time spent looking for an agreement between parties is wasted time”estimated for his part the president of the MoDem, François Bayrou, to the World. Pau Mayor Pushes for Government to Be Set Up “representative of the nuances of the Assembly”.
Faced with the wait-and-see attitude of the Elysée, the left still hopes to be able to impose Lucie Castets at Matignon. The 37-year-old senior civil servant sent a letter to all parliamentarians on Monday, “except the National Rally”her entourage told franceinfo, to detail the priorities of her mandate if she became Prime Minister. A way of showing “Once the Olympic Games are over”the economist “is at work, to present a project that responds to emergencies”, adds the same source.
The one whose name ended up bringing the four components of the NFP into agreement, first and foremost the PS and La France Insoumise, can count on the support of elected officials from the left. Several of them, such as MP Alexis Corbière, have thus called on Emmanuel Macron to appoint Lucie Castets, judging “that he no longer had the pretext” of the Olympic Games, in a message posted Monday on the social network X. “Emmanuel Macron has no choice, we are in an unprecedented situation of cohabitation”estimates the Génération.s MP Benjamin Lucas to franceinfo. The spokesperson for the environmentalist group in the Assembly considers that the left is the most legitimate to form a government.
“In a moment of political confusion, with a situation that is not foreseen anywhere, we must respect principles: it is the force that comes out on top that must form a government and try, text by text, to win majorities.”
Benjamin Lucas, Green MPto franceinfo
While the head of state does not seem any more inclined than a month ago to change his position of saying that no majority is emerging, the left has few tools to maintain the pressure. Lucie Castets must make several media appearances in the coming days and will attend the summer universities of the four main components of the NFP.
While the parliamentary session will not take place before September (at the latest on October 1), the elected representatives of the left intend to lead the battle on social networks and in the media to “keep the pressure on and refuse him [à Emmanuel Macron] the right to choose the Prime Minister as if he had an absolute majority”warns Benjamin Lucas. Some, like LFI MP Gabrielle Cathala, do not hesitate to describe the head of state “autocrat” on X. A term that Lucie Castets’ entourage is careful not to use, while believing that “if Emmanuel Macron ccontinue to turn a deaf ear, the question of respecting the citizens’ vote will arise.”
An argument rejected by the Macronist camp which recalls that, according to the Constitution, the head of state is the only one to decide the name of the future Prime Minister. “Not stealing the vote means respecting and hearing itanswers Prisca Thevenot. There was no winner in this election, we have three blocs represented in the National Assembly and none of them has a majority. Now we have to build political pacts to act.” The right, through the voice of Laurent Wauquiez, has proposed a “legislative pact” to the Macronist camp in July. But, even if allied, the two camps will be very far from an absolute majority in the Palais-Bourbon.
Aware of this mathematical reality, the resigning Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, sent a letter on Tuesday proposing to the leaders of the political forces, except the RN and LFI, a “action pact” focusing on a few major measures. The new president of the Renaissance group in the Assembly said “available” for a collaboration without “erase our differences and disagreements”but in them “exceeding”. This is also what Edouard Philippe and his group Horizons have been demanding for a long time. However, the proposal has little chance of success.
However, without a hypothetical coalition, the future Prime Minister risks being very quickly censored by a majority of deputies. “We will have to use all the legal levers at our disposalsays Benjamin Lucas. DIn a mature and normally functioning democracy, the question of the impeachment of the president would arise, because he blocks the institutions in order to seize power.”