Macron Won't Accept PM's Resignation After Shock Elections

It's a 'government in limbo' in France, with no coalition claiming enough seats to assume control
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 8, 2024 6:50 AM CDT
Macron Won't Accept PM's Resignation After Shock Elections
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron are seen in Paris on March 20.   (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP, File)

After a surprising turn in France's snap elections that kept the far-right National Rally out of power, but with no faction in complete control of the government, President Emmanuel Macron made moves on Monday to attempt to create some structure as the dust settles. First order of the day: Macron refused to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who'd only been in the role for seven months, "to ensure the stability of the country," per the AP, which cites "a government in limbo." Macron himself is slated to stay in office for three more years. More on the elections and what's next for France:

  • Official results: In first place, with just over 180 seats nabbed in France's National Assembly, is the leftist New Popular Front, per results released Monday. Macron's centrist alliance came in with 160-plus seats, while Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally picked up more than 140 seats—enough for only a third-place finish, but with far more than the 89 seats it won in 2022, when it had its best run ever. To control the 577-seat body, a party would've had to win 289 seats.

  • Winning strategy: The New York Times offers its analysis, especially on the strategic "republican front" formed by the left and center to keep National Rally out of power. "France's left-wing parties and ... Macron's centrist coalition pulled out over 200 candidates from three-way races in districts where the far right had a chance of clinching a seat," the paper notes. "Many voters who abhorred the far right then cast their ballot for whoever was left—even if the candidate was hardly their first choice."
  • Pushback: National Rally chief Jordan Bardella wasn't happy with such tactics. "Depriving millions of French people of the possibility of seeing their ideas brought to power will never be a viable path for France," he said in a speech, adding that Macron and the left coalition had made "dangerous electoral deals."
  • Precarious partnership? The Washington Post, meanwhile, questions how well this new center-left coalition will remain in place. "Unless moderate members of the alliance are able to form a government with Macron's centrist allies, France could be headed for political gridlock with just weeks until Paris is set to host the Olympics," the paper notes.

  • 'Who will govern France?': That's the question posed by panelists at the Guardian, who offer their takes on what comes next for the nation. "Macron wanted 'clarification.' What France got was more uncertainty," writes Rym Momtaz. Meanwhile, Nathalie Tocci calls the election "a bad day for Vladimir Putin," noting that "the damage" over "the far right's threat to liberal democracy" in Europe and perhaps beyond "is contained, and may eventually be deflated if not defeated."
  • Donald Tusk: Poland's prime minister and former head of the European Council echoed Tocci's thoughts. "In Paris enthusiasm, in Moscow disappointment, in Kyiv relief. Enough to be happy in Warsaw," he wrote on X.
  • Future plans: Don't think the far-right factions in France have completely given up. Euronews notes that National Rally is "keen to portray the defeat as a victory that sets them up well for the 2027 presidential election." That year "could well be Marine Le Pen's year," especially "if the new progressive government fails to deliver," notes Adam Hsakou of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "All the ingredients are in place for her to continue her progress over the next three years and achieve her dream: the presidency of the Republic."
(More France stories.)

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