Everyone is waiting for Macron France still has no new government

dpa

12.8.2024 - 00:00

Stalemate in France: after the parliamentary elections, neither camp has a government majority. A month later, it is still unclear what the future holds for the country. All eyes are on one man.

DPA

12.08.2024, 00:00

No time? blue News summarizes for you

More than a month after the early parliamentary elections, France still has no new government.
President Emmanuel Macron is playing for time and wanted to wait for the Olympic Games, which are now over.
Even if Macron emphasizes that it is not about a single name, the question of who will lead the government is likely to play a central role in the talks.
As was recently the case with Gabriel Attal, who is still the caretaker head of government, Macron could also pull a surprise candidate out of his hat.

It has been more than a month since the early parliamentary elections in France, but it is still unclear what a new government might look like. President Emmanuel Macron is playing for time and wanted to wait for the Olympic Games, which end this Sunday. Will France now have a new head of government? At the very least, pressure on Macron is likely to grow from all directions in order to save the country from political gridlock.

Election result poses a challenge for political France

But let's start from the beginning: contrary to expectations, it was not the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement led by Marine Le Pen that won the French National Assembly elections at the beginning of July, but the left-wing alliance Nouveau Front Populaire. Macron's centrist forces came in second place.

The result presented the voters with a major challenge. Neither camp has an absolute majority. This is a tricky situation for France, which is not used to major compromises and coalitions in politics.

What's more, interpretations of the election result differ considerably. The left-wing camp sees a clear mandate to govern and is outraged at Head of State Macron for not elevating the proposed Prime Minister Lucie Castets to office. The president, on the other hand, is suggesting that the electorate wants cooperation across political camps - and that his centrist forces should therefore also be part of the government team.

Will there be a grand coalition?

Is Macron, who instigated the early parliamentary elections without any real need and lost them resoundingly, simply a sore loser who doesn't want to give up power? Or is he a realist? Is he - contrary to French convention - looking for a possible grand coalition to break the political deadlock?

In any case, there are more and more voices from Macron's camp explaining where there are overlaps with the conservatives as well as the socialists, greens and communists, who are trying to break away from their alliance with the left-wing party La France Insoumise.

The Minister of Agriculture, Agnes Pannier-Runacher, is also pressing for concessions from her own camp. And the Deputy Minister for Equality, Aurore Bergé, even admits: "We have to look the parliamentary election results in the eye and show a lot of humility. This also means that the next prime minister cannot come from our ranks."

Difficult to bring the parties together despite some common ground

A group of experts who have worked on the programs of the Left Alliance, the Center Camp and the Conservatives also recently published 40 policy proposals that they believe the Left, Conservative and Center parties could implement together.

However, it is uncertain how the opposing parties could come together. The left-wing camp, which already thinks little of working with Macron's centrist forces, is unlikely to want to form a coalition with the conservatives. The same applies the other way around. And even among Macron's people, some still have their difficulties with possibly making common cause with the Greens.

The fact that the parties are slowly but surely trying to position themselves for the next presidential election in 2027 and are therefore seeking to distance themselves from one another is unlikely to help either.

Time is pressing to find a government

Even if Macron emphasizes that it is not about a single name, the question of who will lead the government is likely to play a central role in the talks. In addition to Castets, who was brought in by the left, conservative regional president Xavier Bertrand, former prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and former French foreign minister and later EU Commissioner Michel Barnier are being discussed as potential prime ministers. However, as was recently the case with Gabriel Attal, who is still the caretaker head of government, Macron could also pull a surprise candidate out of his hat.

As difficult as it may be to negotiate who will govern France in the future and with which team, time is pressing. After all, a budget has to be passed for the coming year. The parliamentary deliberations on this would actually begin in the fall. The new government will certainly want to tweak the draft of Attal's current executive team before then.

Last but not least, a protracted process of finding a government also threatens to be seen as a delaying tactic by Macron and to increase frustration and loss of trust among the population. The president therefore does not have much time to find a new prime minister.