- French President Emmanuel Macron has rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.
- France’s parliamentary elections have left parliament divided between left, center and far right, with no faction remaining close to a majority.
- Prime Minister Attal offered to resign, but President Macron immediately asked him to stay on in order to ensure stability.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday refused to accept the resignation of the country’s prime minister and asked him to stay on as caretaker head of his government after a chaotic election result left his government in limbo.
French voters split parliament between the left, center and far right, leaving no faction approaching the majority needed to form a government, and Sunday’s result raised the risk of paralysis in the European Union’s second-largest economy.
Macron had gambled that the decision to call early elections would give France an “opportunity to clarify the situation”, but it turned out to be the opposite, coming less than three weeks before the Paris Olympics open and at a time when the country is in the international spotlight.
French PM to resign after left wins majority in snap elections
The French stock market fell at the open but quickly recovered, possibly as markets feared an outright victory for either the far-right or left-wing coalition.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal speaks following the first results of the second round of French parliamentary elections in Matignon, Paris, July 7, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron refused to accept Attal’s resignation and asked him to stay on as head of his government in the interim on Monday after a chaotic election result left his government in limbo. (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced his resignation on Monday morning, despite having said he would stay on as prime minister if necessary. President Macron, who appointed him just seven months ago, immediately asked him to stay on “to ensure the stability of the country.” Macron’s top political allies met with Attal at the presidential palace, a meeting that lasted about 90 minutes.
Attal made clear on Sunday that he opposed Macron’s sudden decision to call elections, after two rounds of voting left no clear path to forming a government for either the initially elected left-wing coalition, Macron’s centrist alliance or the far right.
Newly elected and returning lawmakers are expected to meet in parliament to begin serious negotiations, while Macron himself is due to fly out to Washington midweek for a NATO summit.
Rivals move to thwart France’s right-wing National Party’s electoral momentum
A political deadlock could have far-reaching implications for the Ukraine war, international diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability.Still, at least one leader said the outcome was a relief.
“Enthusiasm in Paris, disappointment in Moscow, relief in Kiev. More than enough satisfaction in Warsaw,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former president of the Council of the European Union, wrote on X late Sunday.
People gather at Place de la Republique after the second round of voting in the legislative elections in Paris on July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurélien Molissard)
Official results released early on Monday showed that none of the three main parties came close to winning the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the larger of France’s two main legislative bodies.
The results showed that the left-wing New Popular Front coalition came out on top with just over 180 seats, beating Macron’s centrist bloc’s more than 160. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its coalition came in third, but its more than 140 seats were still far more than the previous record of 89 seats it won in 2022.
Macron has three years left in his presidential term.
Rather than supporting Macron as he had hoped, millions of people saw the vote as an opportunity to vent their anger over inflation, crime, immigration and other grievances, including his style of politics.
New Popular Front leaders immediately urged Macron to give them the first chance to form a government and nominate a prime minister. The group has pledged to roll back many of Macron’s signature reforms, embark on a big public spending program and take a tougher stance against Israel because of its war with Hamas. But even on the left, it’s unclear who could lead a government without alienating key allies.
“We need someone who can offer us an agreement,” said Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist party, which has joined a left-wing coalition and was still figuring out how many seats it would win on Monday.
Macron has warned that his left-wing economic policies, with tens of billions of euros of public spending paid for in part by taxing the wealthy and raising taxes on high-income earners, could be disastrous for a France already under criticism by EU watchdogs over its debt.
A hung parliament is uncharted territory for modern France, and many people reacted with a mixture of relief and anxiety.
“It’s a great relief because we were very worried about the pollsters and the reports in the media. We had high expectations,” said Nadine Dupuy, 60, a legal secretary in Paris. “What’s going to happen? How are they going to govern this country?”
A bicycle is on fire as tensions rise near Place de la Republique after the second round of voting in the legislative elections in Paris on July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurélien Molissard)
The left-center political agreement to block the National Rally was largely successful: many voters considered it most important to keep the far-right out of power, and supported their opponents in the runoff elections even if they were not from their usual political camp.
“I’m disappointed, I’m disappointed,” said far-right supporter Luc Dumont, 66. “Well, I’m happy to see that we’re making progress, because we’ve been doing well in recent years.”
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Marine Le Pen, leader of the Rally National party who is expected to run for France’s presidency for a fourth time in 2027, said the election laid the foundations for “tomorrow’s victories”.
Racism, anti-Semitism and a Russian disinformation campaign marred the election campaign, with more than 50 candidates reporting physical attacks, highly unusual in France.
Unlike other European countries accustomed to coalition governments, France has no tradition of lawmakers from opposing political camps coming together to form a majority. France is also more centralised than many other European countries, with many decisions made in Paris.
