(Paris) Having come out on top in the legislative elections, but far from an absolute majority, the left assured on Monday that it would propose “during the week” a name for Matignon, where Gabriel Attal, who presented his resignation, was kept on to “ensure the stability of the country”.
No camp seems able to govern alone: neither the New Popular Front (around 190 seats), nor the presidential camp (around 160 seats), nor the RN and its allies (more than 140 seats) obtained an absolute majority in the National Assembly (289 deputies).
Taking note of this result, the outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron, who asked him to remain in office “for the moment” in order to “ensure the stability of the country” while France is due to host the Olympic Games from July 26.
The two heads of the executive were joined at the Élysée by several ministers including Gérald Darmanin (Interior) and Stéphane Séjourné (Foreign Affairs).
The left is already putting pressure on Matignon. The leader of the ecologists Marine Tondelier considered that Emmanuel Macron “should call today” on the left “to give him the name of a prime minister”.
The socialist Olivier Faure, for his part, hoped that the NFP “could be in a position to present a candidacy” for Matignon “during the week”.
The latest statements by the rebellious Mathilde Panot risk in any case crystallizing tensions within the fragile union: the rebellious judged that the controversial leader of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon “is absolutely not disqualified” for this post.
A point of view that is not shared by his allies, while the balance of power has evolved within the left-wing alliance where La France Insoumise is less hegemonic, especially since its “rebels” like Clémentine Autain and François Ruffin will no longer sit in the same group.
PHOTO SARAH MEYSSONNIER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
MP Clémentine Autain, from the far-left opposition party La France Insoumise (La France Insoumise – LFI), member of the alliance of left-wing parties called the “New Popular Front” (NFP).
“Reasonable people”
Meanwhile, the Macronist camp continues to advocate for a coalition. “I believe in it more than ever,” said Yaël-Braun Pivet. However, the former president of the National Assembly only plans to govern with “people who share (her) values and (her) objectives, this is neither the case for LFI nor the case for the RN.”
More restrictive, her colleague Aurore Bergé directly offered a helping hand to the sixty or so Republican deputies: “Do they want to remain a systematic opposition force?”
A right-wing expansion that got off to a bad start since Laurent Wauquiez, back on the national scene with his election in Haute-Loire, warned on Sunday evening that there “will be neither coalition nor compromise” on the part of LR.
MoDem leader François Bayrou, for his part, considered it “possible” to form a majority without RN or LFI, and seemed to be banking on a division of the left, pointing out “incompatible attitudes and political choices” within the New Popular Front.
Calculations contested by Marine Tondelier: “Those who tell us that they will have a majority without LFI did not have the same maths teachers as me […] I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“We’ll have to talk”
Even if it means adding fuel to the fire of the National Rally.
Emmanuel Macron must “decide whether he should appoint a far-left prime minister, and then good luck with the confidence vote, good luck with building a budget,” noted the vice-president of the far-right party, Sébastien Chenu, on France Inter.
The NFP’s programme, from the repeal of the pension reform to the minimum wage of 1600 euros net, seems in fact incompatible with the ambitions of the presidential camp.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon was nevertheless inflexible on Sunday evening, affirming that Emmanuel Macron should “go or appoint a prime minister” from the New Popular Front, in contrast to the social democrat Raphaël Glucksmann who admitted that “we will have to discuss, we will have to dialogue” in the face of this “divided” Assembly.
PHOTO SAMEER AL-DOUMY, ARCHIVES AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Founder of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) Jean-Luc Mélenchon as he speaks during election night, following the first results of the second round of the French legislative elections at La Rotonde Stalingrad in Paris on July 7, 2024.
Despite the uncertainty of the situation, financial markets remained neutral on Monday morning, with the Paris Stock Exchange opening slightly down before returning to the green at midday.
Abroad, the vote was particularly scrutinized.
The German government expressed “some relief” after the RN’s poor performance, which was also welcomed by the Spanish and Polish prime ministers.
In Russia, on the other hand, the Kremlin “does not feed[t] “no hope or particular illusion” after the results fell far short of the expectations of the French far right, often accused of collusion with Moscow.
Meanwhile in Paris, discussions will quickly begin in the National Assembly for the distribution of political groups and the allocation of key positions, with the election of its future president on July 18. The outgoing Yaël Braun-Pivet, re-elected in Yvelines, continues to believe in the perch.
The doors of the Palais Bourbon officially open at 2 p.m. on Monday to welcome some of the 577 deputies of the new legislature… Not all of them will be there: the Insoumis, for example, have planned to come together on Tuesday morning.