Yaël Braun-Pivet was re-elected this Thursday as president of the National Assembly. A victory for the Macron camp, which could give a first clue about the political color of the future Prime Minister, as the head of state suggested.
The essential
- Who will be Prime Minister and who will govern France in the coming weeks? At the end of a long day at the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet (Renaissance), outgoing president of the lower house, was re-elected this Thursday, July 18 in the third round after an alliance was sealed between the center-right deputies favorable to Emmanuel Macron and those of the right led by Laurent Wauquiez.
- A “battle lost in advance”. These are the words of Marine Tondelier after the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet (Ensemble) to the perch of the National Assembly. “We lost a battle but we did not lose the war. Everything continues for Matignon.” According to the leader of the Ecologists, the defeat of André Chassaigne does not “change anything [leur] determination to govern, to be at Matignon.”
- “The Republicans, through an alliance with Ms Yaël Braun-Pivet, voted for this president in exchange for positions of responsibility in the National Assembly which will be well above the representativeness of the Republicans” asserted this Friday morning on France Info André Chassaigne (PCF), defeated in the vote for the post of president of the National Assembly.
- At the same time, several figures from the New Popular Front are calling for the NFP Prime Minister to be determined by a “vote” of the deputies. This is the case, in particular, of Olivier Faure who clearly requested it this Thursday. Others want it, such as François Ruffin and the communist deputies.
10:14 – “We will look at possible legal remedies” says Sandrine Rousseau (EELV) after the vote in the Assembly
Traditionally, the Prime Minister is of the same political colour as the President of the National Assembly. Will Emmanuel Macron follow this custom? Nothing certain. On the other hand, the left does not seem to have digested the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet to the Perchoir, this Thursday evening, in particular because of the threat of seeing a tenant of Matignon from the ranks of the Macron camp, or even from the right if alliances are forged.
“She won a vote, but it’s not in the spirit of democracy,” said the dejected environmentalist Sandrine Rousseau on TF1 yesterday. “We can see to what extent Emmanuel Macron is locking down power with tactics and schemes,” she denounced. Regarding the 17 resigning ministers who voted yesterday, the elected official was categorical: “We’re going to look at possible legal recourse (…) Normally, the government is completely separate from Parliament, it’s part of the fundamentals of our Constitution, of our institutions,” she laments.
10:01 – Boris Vallaud (PS) denounces an “opportunist front” against the left
The leader of the socialist deputies Boris Vallaud spoke this Friday morning on France 2 of a “front formed in a perfectly opportunistic way” which allowed Yaël Braun-Pivet to run for a second term at the head of the National Assembly. He expressed his “feeling of anger”. “In reality, nothing changes”, there is a “form of blindness of Macronism in the face of the messages that the French women and men have sent them” he regrets.
09:44 – André Chassaigne (PCF) denounces a “mixture between the executive power and the legislative power”
“A sleight of hand”, a “bargaining that will have consequences”. This is how the elected communist André Chassaigne and candidate for the presidency of the National Assembly judges the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet to the same post, this Thursday, at the end of the third round of voting. “The vote of the French was stolen by an unnatural alliance (…) There was the questioning of the separation of powers where 17 ministers participated in the vote” he continues on France Info. He denounces a “mixture between the executive power and the legislative power”.
07/18/24 – 11:18 p.m. – “Everything continues for Matignon”, assures Marine Tondelier after the failure of the NFP
A “battle lost in advance”. These are the words of Marine Tondelier after the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet (Ensemble) to the perch of the National Assembly. “We lost a battle but we did not lose the war. Everything continues for Matignon.” According to the leader of the Ecologists, the defeat of André Chassaigne does not “change anything [leur] determination to govern, to be at Matignon.”
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How soon will the new government be appointed?
Let’s say it right away, not right away. During his speech announcing that he would resign on the evening of the second round of the legislative elections on July 7, Gabriel Attal specified that he “assumes[ait] [s]his functions as long as duty requires.” In other words, Emmanuel Macron will not be obliged to accept it immediately and even once this resignation is confirmed, a “resigning government” could remain in place. As a reminder, Emmanuel Macron took three weeks before formalizing the departure of Jean Castex following the 2022 presidential election.
First of all, the future Prime Minister will not be known quickly because Emmanuel Macron is constrained by his schedule. He left for the United States at the beginning of the week for a NATO summit and only returned to France on Thursday. Furthermore, he announced that he wanted to wait for the “structuring” of the Assembly (in particular the constitution of the groups and the election of their presidents) to appoint a new head of government. In a letter to the French people published on July 10, he also considered that it was necessary to “give the political forces a little time to build [des] compromise with serenity and respect for everyone. Until then, the current Government will continue to exercise its responsibilities and will then be in charge of current affairs as is the republican tradition.”
Given the composition of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic will have the task of finding a Prime Minister capable of gathering the support of at least 289 deputies. The same applies to the ministers that the latter will then have to propose. Otherwise, the new government as a whole would be exposed to a motion of censure which, if voted for by more than half of the elected representatives, would lead to the overthrow of the ministerial team. It would therefore be necessary to start all over again.
The problem is that Emmanuel Macron will have to accommodate all sensitivities, from the left of course, from the center naturally, but also from the right. If the NFP came out on top, the head of state has already ruled out governing with the LFI deputies. So out goes these sixty elected officials, who could be compensated by the sixty LR who should once again join the Palais Bourbon. Finding personalities who suit the ecologists, socialists, communists, macronists and republicans will not be easy. Not to mention the programmatic points on which everyone will have to agree. The negotiations are still expected to be long and complex. Suffice to say that Gabriel Attal should make extra…