“Executive coup”, the left steps up to the plate

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Executive coup the left steps up to the plate

While Emmanuel Macron will begin consultations on Friday that should lead to the choice of a new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal has just proposed a freeze on public spending while waiting for a new government. An initiative decried by the left.

The essentials

  • The Élysée has summoned the leaders of parliamentary groups on August 23 for a series of discussions aimed at “continuing to move towards the constitution of the broadest and most stable majority possible”. Emmanuel Macron will also meet Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella and Eric Ciotti on Monday, August 26. The appointment of the new Prime Minister could therefore wait until next week.

  • Gabriel Attal, the resigning Prime Minister, has proposed a freeze on public spending pending a new government. This translates into maintaining the state’s credits for 2025, i.e. 492 billion euros. A decision considered by the left as “a coup de force” by the executive.

  • For its part, La France Insoumise called for the dismissal of Emmanuel Macron if he does not appoint Lucie Castets to Matignon, a candidate proposed by the New Popular Front but whose candidacy had been dismissed by the president several weeks ago. This announcement by LFI is not supported by its allies who have distanced themselves from it.

  • Other names are circulating for the post of Prime Minister, such as Bernard Cazeneuve or Xavier Bertrand. Those of Jean-Louis Borloo and Michel Barnier have also been mentioned. A new name has emerged, that of Karim Bouamrane, socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen.

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08:55 – The left denounces “a coup de force” by the executive

Gabriel Attal’s budget proposal does not suit the left at all. Manuel Bompard, LFI coordinator, believes on X that it is “a pure scandal”. “Two months after its electoral defeat, the former government claims to impose 10 billion in additional cuts in the State budget”, he decried. This identical renewal results, according to Matignon, in a saving of some 10 billion euros compared to a budget that would have taken into account the 2% inflation. Same story from the PCF. Ian Brossat, spokesperson for the party, considers this decision “mind-blowing” as does the ecologist deputy Benjamin Lucas who denounces “a coup de force that goes against the will of the French”. For her part, Lucie Castets, the candidate of the new Popular Front for Matignon, expressed her indignation in Libération, that a resigning Prime Minister is already looking at the budget.

08:39 – Gabriel Attal proposes a freeze on public spending

Gabriel Attal, the resigning Prime Minister, has proposed a freeze on public spending, i.e. maintaining the state’s credits for 2025 (492 billion euros) unchanged. The head of government handed over the ceiling letters to the ministries on Tuesday. This choice was made following the expectation of a new government, which, once formed, will have only a few weeks to prepare the 2025 budget. The annual draft finance bill must, in fact, be submitted to Parliament by October 1 at the latest. “The Prime Minister’s main concern is that the government that succeeds him has the means to present a budget within the time limits set by the organic laws,” was explained on rue de Varenne, according to BFMTV. This is the first time under the Fifth Republic that a resigning Prime Minister has set a budgetary framework for ministers who have also resigned. He also tells them that it could be adjusted in the coming weeks by the new government.

08/20/24 – 11:50 p.m. – LFI isolated from other left-wing parties

Faced with Emmanuel Macron’s slowness in appointing a new Prime Minister, the Insoumis did not hesitate to brandish the threat of dismissal against the President of the Republic. A shock announcement that did not convince his left-wing allies, the latter dissociating themselves from it. Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialists, was the first to react. On his X account, the latter indicated that the proposal by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Mathilde Panot or Manuel Bompard “only commits their movement” and not the entire left that has united within the NFP. A position subsequently shared by the Ecologists and the PCF. Considered “totally illusory”, or even impossible to achieve, the implementation of such a procedure would be “extremely complicated”, analyzes Jean Garrigues, professor of contemporary history at the University of Orléans, at Sciences Po.

08/20/24 – 10:54 p.m. – Is the presidential party ready to compromise with the socialists?

The left-wing alliance seems to be increasingly divided after the threat of dismissal of the president brandished by La France insoumise. These divergences would not have gone unnoticed by the presidential camp, which would take advantage of a breach to reach out to the socialists. According to Macronist MP Jean-René Cazeneuve, his party would thus be ready for “compromises” with the Socialist Party with the aim of allowing “a coalition” in the National Assembly. Invited to Sud Radio, the elected official therefore calls for “responsibility” from Olivier Faure’s camp. “There are subjects on which we can work together, on the tax plan for example,” he explained.

08/20/24 – 9:23 p.m. – Gabriel Attal proposes a freeze on public spending pending a new government

Matignon announced on Tuesday that the outgoing government had renewed the amount of state credits for 2025, for a total of 492 billion euros. Still not appointed by Emmanuel Macron, the government of the next Prime Minister will have little time to prepare the next budget. “The Prime Minister’s main concern is that the government that succeeds him has the means to present a budget within the time limits provided for by the organic laws.”

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How soon will the new government be appointed?

Emmanuel Macron held a “political truce” for the duration of the Olympic Games, while Gabriel Attal’s government resigned on July 16. The President of the Republic had estimated that no new government would be appointed before “mid-August”, preferring “stability” for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Given the composition of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic has set himself the task of finding a Prime Minister capable of gathering the support of at least 289 deputies, in order to ensure stability. 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…

What could be the profile of the future Prime Minister?

Emmanuel Macron took advantage of a summer break from Fort Brégançon to give new clues about the profile of the new Prime Minister. Clear elements are now emerging for the person who will take over from Gabriel Attal. The head of government will have to be “a man or woman, consensual, who pleases both the left and the right”, we can read in the columns of Le Monde. According to the Elysée, this personality will also have to give off “a scent of cohabitation”. This is an important clue about the composition of the new government and its political color. Especially after Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to see the NFP candidate, Lucie Castets, at Matignon.

Xavier Bertrand is one of the main names circulating for Matignon. The LR president of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand, himself, is even supported by several figures from the center and the right. “He is a great republican among the Republicans and a great regional president” declared on this subject Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, resigning Secretary of State for the City, on July 30th. The resigning Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin spoke of him “a politician with very great competence”, he could “greatly serve France”, a day earlier. Concerning the main person concerned, there is no direct contact with the President of the Republic. Bertrand and Macron exchange, certainly, but through “emissaries” according to information from Le Parisien.

The President of the Republic is consulting at least on a second name for the post of Prime Minister, it is Bernard Cazeneuve. The former tenant of Matignon under François Hollande remains however much less publicized than Xavier Bertrand, and much more discreet about his new political aspirations. However, according to information from Le Parisien, the latter recently spoke with the head of state “whom he had already seen discreetly at the Elysée in the spring (well before the dissolution). A profile that could quite satisfy the consensual dimension sought by Emmanuel Macron to replace Gabriel Attal.

On Sunday, August 4, the resigning Minister for Gender Equality, Aurore Bergé, also mentioned three names from the Republicans to fill the post of Prime Minister in place of Gabriel Attal. Unsurprisingly, Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Hauts-de-France region. Then Michel Barnier, former minister we told you about in this article on July 31st in the context of a possible technical Prime Minister. Finally, the name of Gérard Larcher, current President of the Senate was also mentioned by Aurore Bergé to join Matignon. The three “have solid experience of government, Parliament, and compromise”, believes the Macronist minister, from the right. Jean-Louis Borloo is also mentioned.

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