(Bloomberg) — The left-wing parties that banded together to win the biggest number of seats in France’s snap election are struggling to unite to come up with a candidate for prime minister.
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Emmanuel Macron plans to accept the resignation of current premier Gabriel Attal and his government early next week, paving the way for the French president to appoint a successor, people familiar with the matter said. That may not come for some time and Attal and his government will continue to run day-to-day activities until then.
Whatever name the New Popular Front finally puts forward may be less important than the extent of their internal disagreements, however, since they provide an opening for others, including Macron’s group, to try to peel away more moderate members.
“We are at a moment, when things are a little blocked, that it has to open up, we need to propose different solutions,” Green party head Marine Tondelier said on RMC radio on Friday. She said that could include someone from outside the leftist alliance, which is made up primarily of Socialists, Greens, the far-left France Unbowed and Communists.
France has been plunged into political paralysis since the election on Sunday ended with the National Assembly split among three main factions after voters thwarted the far right’s bid to take power. The New Popular Front is the biggest of those — ahead of Macron’s centrist party and its allies, and Marine Le Pen’s National Front — but it remains far short of an outright majority.
While parties on both the left and right have spurned Macron’s call for a broad coalition, some form of alliance among differing political groups would be necessary to get anywhere close to having enough seats to form a stable government.
Underlining the differences within the left, lawmaker Manuel Bompard said on TF1 television on Friday that the prime minister should come from the party with the most seats within the alliance, which appears to be his France Unbowed, though parliamentary groups won’t be finalized until next week. He also declined to put a timetable on discussions.
Both he and Tondelier said they continued to reject Macron’s appeal, contained in a letter published in regional newspapers, for “republican forces” to rally together to form a governing coalition. This de facto excluded the National Rally and France Unbowed.
Under the French constitution, Macron has the prerogative to appoint the prime minister, but the ability of parliament to topple the government makes the choice delicate. He said on Sunday that he would wait to see the new configuration of the National Assembly before making a decision.
Current Premier Gabriel Attal offered to step down on Monday following the election defeat, but the president asked him to remain in his post temporarily to maintain stability. Franceinfo reported earlier that Attal’s resignation will be accepted following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Under French constitutional rules, the members of the outgoing administration who have won seats in the election need to resign before the new National Assembly sits for the first time next Thursday in order to put themselves forward for key roles in the parliament or take part in votes. Attal is expected to become head of his political group in the lower house.
The government will continue to function until a new one is formed by the next prime minster, though it will have very limited powers, said Melody Mock-Gruet, a constitutional and parliamentary affairs specialist who teaches at SciencesPo university.
“Concretely it doesn’t change much, physically; it’s Attal who will continue at Matignon until the next prime minister is named,” she said, referring to the name of the building that houses the prime minister’s office.
Mock-Gruet added that a so-called resigning government can’t present legislative bills, change regulations or hold cabinet meetings. It can issue decrees that deal with day-to-day matters, she said, and its members can also vote in parliament if they were elected.
A poll by Odoxa and Backbone Consulting for Le Figaro newspaper showed 43% of respondents favor a coalition government. This compared with 29% who would prefer a technocratic administration. Around 43% backed the idea of Macron’s group allying with the left, but without France Unbowed.
(Updates with Macron’s plan to accept resignation of his prime minister in second paragraph, comments from constitutional specialist starting in 12th paragraph.)
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