The head of government, still in office, is the only candidate in the running to chair his party’s group. This future dual status raises questions, as does that of sixteen of his ministers elected or re-elected in the legislative elections.
“I have the honour of presenting my candidacy for the presidency of our group.” In a message sent to Renaissance deputies on Friday, July 12, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, re-elected deputy for Hauts-de-Seine on Sunday, announced his wish to lead the troops of the presidential party in the National Assembly. The head of government, whose resignation was refused by Emmanuel Macron, will be the only one in the running, and must be designated by an electronic vote on Saturday morning. “In an Assembly without a majority, we must be essential and responsible”he wrote in his profession of faith consulted by franceinfo, assuring that it will be necessary “rethink everything, reinvent everything, rebuild everything”.
On borrowed time since the results of the legislative elections, which saw the left-wing coalition of the New Popular Front overtake the former presidential majority, the Matignon tenant is therefore preparing to regain his seat as a deputy, like sixteen other members of the government, elected or re-elected. And he intends to take the head of the Renaissance group, reduced to only a hundred members.
But how will Gabriel Attal and his colleagues be able to remain in government, while waiting for the appointment of a new Prime Minister, and at the same time sit as deputies? Doesn’t this contravene the separation of powers? Article 23 of the Constitution states that “the functions of member of the government are incompatible with the exercise of any parliamentary mandate.” Emmanuel Macron, however, intends to accept the government’s resignation on July 16., two days before the first session of the new Assembly, franceinfo learned from a participant in the last Council of Ministers.
A deadline that also counts for Marc Fesneau, still Minister of Agriculture, re-elected MP in Loir-et-Cher, and already chosen as boss of the MoDem MPs. “In themselves, the groups are not yet administratively constituted”defends the centrist party group. “What matters is that he is no longer a minister on July 18.”
But in the absence of a new government to be named in the wake, which is still struggling to take shape, the current ministers could remain in charge of current affairs for a while longer. Contacted by franceinfo, Matignon assures that the members of a resigning government elected to the deputation – and therefore Gabriel Attal – will be able to sit as soon as the parliamentary session opens on July 18. For the Prime Minister’s services, there is no legal obstacle to him taking over the presidency of the Renaissance group. “Political groups are associations. Chairing one is not an institutional function within the meaning of the Assembly”also defends a fine connoisseur of the mysteries of Parliament.
But beyond the internal life of the groups, it is the participation of these members of the government in the votes that could be contested. In a hemicycle without an absolute majority, in which all votes will count, those of Gabriel Attal and his 16 ministers will weigh in the upcoming elections to the key positions of the institution, notably the presidency of the Assembly. And theThe legal interpretation of Matignon is today hotly debated by constitutionalists, faced with an unprecedented scenario.
“Objectively, we don’t have much”notes Benjamin Morel, lecturer in public law at the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas. “Except for two precedents, in 1976 and 1988, where resigning ministers sat to elect members of the bureau, but that lasted three days. Here, we are talking about ministers who would deal with current affairs for much longer.”
The Constitutional Council has already been consulted in the past on the subject of the election of the presidency of the National Assembly, for which it declared itself incompetent, but never on the incompatibility of sitting as a resigning minister in the hemicycle. “The Constitutional Council is not legitimate to answer these questions”the institution told franceinfo.
So, everyone has their own interpretation. “It’s very simple”Paul Cassia, professor of public law at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, nevertheless asserts to franceinfo. “LMinisters cannot vote in the Assembly, since the organic law provides for a period of thirty days [après leur départ du gouvernement] before they become deputies again. In the meantime, they have their substitutes.” He challenges the position of Matignon, “judge and party” in that case.
Another specialist in the Constitution, Thibaud Mulier, from the University of Paris Nanterre, considers it more relevant to base oneself on article 23 of the Constitution, superior to the laws in “the hierarchy of standards”and which allows us to consider “that no delay is expected.” He tends rather to interpret the law in this way: once Gabriel Attal and his ministers have resigned, they will no longer be “a government within the meaning of Article 20, [ils] born [pourront] no longer ‘determine and conduct the policy of the nation’. The incompatibility disappears.” Which does not resolve all the questions, he acknowledges:
“But at that time, during questions to the government, you have Mr. Attal, deputy, group president, who asks a question to Mr. Attal, Prime Minister, who deals with current affairs?”
Thibaud Mulier, constitutionalistto franceinfo
A point of view that Benjamin Morel is not far from sharing. “The resigning minister is no longer a minister, he acts as a minister. But if it lasts several months, it becomes a problem from the point of view of democratic balance.”he believes. Before detailing: “Can a resigning government ask the President of the Republic for an extraordinary session in September? I would tend to say no, but there is no precedent. I also do not see how we could present a budget under the seal of current affairs.”
There remains one point on which the specialists interviewed by franceinfo agree: a resigning government cannot be the subject of a motion of censure because “it no longer exists legally”, summarizes Thibaud Mulier. “You can’t censor a government that has already fallen”Benjamin Morel continues. Which promises numerous legal debates if the formation of a new government does not occur within a relatively short period of time.