Monday, July 8, 2024 -French President, Emmanuel Macron refused the resignation of the country’s prime minister, asking him on Monday, July 8 to remain temporarily as the head of the government after the weekend's chaotic election results that left the government in limbo.
Macron on Monday his PM to stay,
pending difficult negotiations to form a new government after a left-wing surge
delivered a parliament divided into three.
The leftist New Popular Front (NFP)
emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election,
thwarting Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far-right to power.
However, no party has secured a working
majority, meaning the electoral outcome heralded a period of political
volatility.
Possibilities open to the French government include the NFP forming a minority
government or the coming together of a coalition of right, left and centrist
parties with no common ground, meaning legislation might never get passed by
Parliament.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a
centrist and close ally of Macron, tendered his resignation on Sunday, but the
head of state, Macron rejected it.
“The President has asked Gabriel Attal to
remain prime minister for the time being in order to ensure the country’s
stability,” Macron’s office said in a statement.
A fragmented parliament will weaken France’s
role in the European Union. The left won 182 seats, Macron’s centrist alliance
168 and Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and allies 143, Interior Ministry data
cited by Le Monde newspaper showed.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, one of the most
divisive figures in French politics, explicitly ruled out any deal with
centrists on Sunday, and on Monday his ally Eric Bompard sounded
uncompromising.
“The president must appoint as prime
minister someone from the New Popular Front to implement the NFP’s programme,
the whole programme and nothing but the programme,” he said on France 2
television.
However, there is little chance that any of
the left-wing bloc’s key proposals, which include raising the minimum wage,
reversing Macron’s pension reform and capping the prices of key goods, would
pass a parliamentary vote without some kind of agreement with lawmakers from
outside the bloc.
0 Comments