(Paris) French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal was officially elected on Saturday as president of the Macronist group of deputies, a role he will only be able to assume when President Emmanuel Macron has accepted his resignation, in accordance with the separation of executive and legislative powers.
Mr. Attal, the only candidate, obtained 84 votes out of the 98 deputies registered for this internal election. Seven voted blank and seven others abstained, the parliamentary group announced in a press release.
In the absence of competition, Mr. Attal’s election was not in doubt: Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who were said to have ambitions to run, ultimately did not put themselves forward as candidates.
One MP, Stella Dupont, joined the Macronist group in the National Assembly too late and was unable to take part in the election. The group currently has 99 members.
Mr. Attal will actually take up his duties as group president on Thursday, at the opening of the new legislature, marked by the election of the president of the Assembly.
By then, the government must have been declared resigning, which could happen on Tuesday at the end of a Council of Ministers, according to a government source.