French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resigned on July 16, 2024, but was asked by President Emmanuel Macron to lead a caretaker government until a new one is appointed. The resignation came after the July 7 legislative elections left no political bloc with an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The caretaker government can run current affairs but cannot submit new laws or make major changes. Attal will remain in charge until a consensus candidate for prime minister is found among political parties.
The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, which includes Socialists, Communists, Greens, and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), won the most seats in the legislative elections. However, internal conflicts between LFI and other left-wing parties have made it difficult for them to agree on a candidate for prime minister. The Socialists rejected Huguette Bello as a potential candidate due to her past as a communist MP, while the LFI rejected Laurence Tubiana, an economist and climate specialist without political affiliation who had the backing of the Socialists, Communists, and Green party.
Macron is hoping to find a right-of-center majority in parliament that would keep both the LFI and far-right National Rally (RN) out of any new coalition. Once Attal resigns, he and other cabinet members will be able to take their seats in parliament and participate in any coalition-building.
Parliament reconvenes on Thursday, July 18, 2024, and will start by filling the National Assembly speaker job and other key positions. Cracks have appeared between Attal and his former mentor Macron, who appears to blame him for the electoral defeat only six months after being appointed France's youngest ever head of government at 34.
Macron still has almost three years to go as president before elections in 2027, at which far-right leader Marine Le Pen is expected to make a fresh bid for power.
