French President Emmanuel Macron’s prime minister resigned on Tuesday following a chaotic series of elections that resulted in Macron’s party losing power.
Macron’s party lost in France’s legislative elections on July 7, which resulted in a fragmented parliament and no clear path forward as to whose party would run the country. Because Macron’s party is no longer in power, his ability to wield power and influence legislation was significantly weakened — and those abilities became even weaker following the resignation on Tuesday of his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, according to Politico EU.
Attal offered to step down from his role following his and Macron’s party’s loss in the legislative elections on July 7, but Macron refused to accept it until Tuesday, alongside resignations from other cabinet members, according to Politico EU. Attal’s resignation means that his government will act in a mostly transitional regard “to handle current affairs until a new government is being appointed,” according to a statement from Macron’s office.
Macron’s office also called on “all Republican forces” to come to a determination on what the new government would look like so that the transitional period could end “as soon as possible,” according to Politico EU.
Typically, the president — in this case, Macron — has the power to select his own prime minister and cabinet, according to Politico EU. But because no party took an absolute majority in the elections, there’s no clear picture of who is set to lead or govern.
Such a transitional period has never lasted more than nine days in France, according to Politico EU. Given the unique nature of the situation, however, it is unclear how long the process will take.
The New Popular Front, a leftist coalition of parties, collectively took the most votes at 174 seats secured, but not enough to seize the absolute majority. The National Rally Party and Macron’s own party, the centrist-liberal Renaissance Party, both trailed behind at 141 seats and 145 seats, respectively.
Macron had formed an alliance with the New Popular Front ahead of the elections in a bid to try and stop the National Rally from seizing control of parliament. The coalition is composed of parties including the Socialist Party, the climate-focused Green Party and the ultra-left Communist and Unbowed parties.
Macron has referred to left-wing parties as dangerous for the country’s political scene, and has had particular problems with the Unbowed party’s fringe-left policies and criticized it for stoking antisemitism and hatred against Jewish people. He said in a statement on July 10 that “no one” had won last week’s elections and that the “blocs or coalitions that emerged from these elections all represent a minority,” according to Politico EU.
It would require a “sincere and loyal dialogue” to “build a solid majority,” Macron said at the time, according to Politico EU. Macron has not made any public determinations on what will happen next or who could be selected for the prime ministerial role.
“If we don’t find a solution in the next few hours or days, it will be a real shipwreck,” Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said in a TV appearance on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Featured image credit: (Screen Capture/PBS
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