France’s left-wing parties have been fiercely divided over her prime ministerial nomination, with Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel warning that the parties were risking “shipwreck” despite their electoral success.
President Emmanuel Macron is likely to accept the resignation of his current government, led by centrist Gabriel Attal, to allow ministers elected as deputies to sit in parliament when it meets on Thursday.
The New Popular Front (NFP), an alliance of Socialists and Greens, the Communist Party and the far-right “La France Instinct”, was hastily put together before the new elections on June 30 and July 7 and unexpectedly received the most votes.
However, the party did not achieve an absolute majority and years of tension between the parties over the question of who could lead a possible left-wing government flared up again.
The situation in the eurozone’s second-largest economy is further complicated by President Emmanuel Macron’s call for the established parties to form an alliance to form a government, an option that would include part of the NFP but exclude Indomitable France.
“If we do not manage to find a solution in the next few hours or days, it would be a disaster,” Roussel told BFM TV, describing the state of the talks as “regrettable.”
The NFP parties, which defeated Macron’s centrists and Marine Le Pen’s far-right in the snap elections, had each put forward a number of candidates to form a government, but saw them rejected by at least one other member of the alliance.
Attal submitted his resignation to Macron immediately after the election defeat.
Macron had initially rejected his resignation, but will chair a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning at which he could accept it.
This would allow Attal and other members of the government, including Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, to sit in parliament and participate in the election of the parliamentary speaker on Thursday.
The government would remain in office on a caretaker basis until a new cabinet is appointed.
Parliament would then be allowed to regulate current affairs and deal with emergency situations, but would not be able to submit any new laws to Parliament – not even the annual budget – or decide on any major changes, experts say.
The responsibilities of managing day-to-day operations also include ensuring the smooth running of the Olympic Games, which begin on July 26.
There have already been transitional governments in France, but none have remained in office for more than a few days.