Gabriel Attal, still officially French Prime Minister, announced on Friday, July 12, his candidacy to lead the Renaissance group in the National Assembly. He is the only candidate in the running and therefore seems certain to win. But for the moment, Emmanuel Macron has not accepted his resignation as Prime Minister. But the president could be tempted to release his head of government, to give strength to his parliamentary group.
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After several days of negotiations, Gabriel Attal was the only member of the Renaissance group to submit his candidacy for the position of group president in the National Assembly on Friday, July 12. The vote will take place the following day.
There is therefore no longer any question of her predecessor at Matignon Elisabeth Borne or the current Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmaninwhose names had also been circulating. Gerald ” Darmanin is lucid, he knows that in a duel against Attal, he loses “, explains a parliamentarian pragmatically. The Minister of the Interior nevertheless remains combative: ” The elections within the group do not in any way regulate (…) the political line and the functioning of the party ” he wrote to his fellow MPs.
The choice of Gabriel Attal is also supported by the Élysée, which explains that ” Everything that goes in the direction of unity is positive ” Gathering the Renaissance troops, angry since the announcement of the dissolutionis an imperative for Emmanuel Macron. And even if tensions exist between the president and his Prime Minister, a Macronist wants to believe that ” Gabriel Attal will remain loyal ” towards the head of state.
During a meeting at the Élysée on Friday, Emmanuel Macron also deplored the ” disastrous spectacle ” given in recent days by his camp, which struggled to unite behind Gabriel Attal.
Leaving government, a requirement for new positions
Even though Gabriel Attal is already planning his future role in Parliament, he remains, for the moment, Prime Minister. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron has actually refused his resignation on July 8, asking him to stay for ” ensure the stability of the country “.
But this situation could change quickly. Emmanuel Macron has every interest in accepting the resignation of Gabriel Attal and his government before July 18, the date of the election of the president of the National Assembly, a position occupied by Yaël Braun-Pivet before the dissolution. Other elections will be held in the wake: those to designate the presidents of the committees, the quaestors.
But all voices will count in view of the composition of the hemicycledivided into three neck-and-neck blocs since the early legislative elections. The presidential camp needs the 18 ministers re-elected as deputies to be able to express their votes. Emmanuel Macron must therefore let them leave the government, because it is the rules of the Assembly that require it.
Another argument: once the government is dismissed, it can no longer be the subject of a motion of censure by parliamentarians. While the Olympic Games come closer, this would allow to ensure a certain stability of political life, before the appointment of a new executive.
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