Three days after the early legislative elections of July 7, which did not produce an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the suspense still reigns over the appointment of a Prime Minister who would cohabit with President Macron. Negotiations continue within the New Popular Front, between the PS, LFI, the ecologists and the communists, who are supposed to propose a name by the end of the week. While a part of the Republicans claimed, this Tuesday, the head of Matignon and a “rally government”, in order to “put a stop to LFI”, the National Rally, excluded from the negotiations, is entering the Assembly this Wednesday.
Key information:
⇒ A section of the Republicans is demanding a right-wing Prime Minister at Matignon
⇒ The 123 deputies of the National Rally take their seats in the Assembly.
⇒ The battle continues between the PS and LFI to propose a Prime Minister to Emmanuel Macron
Alexis Kohler, farewell to Macron? Low blows, disappointment and confidences
Whatever happens next, nothing will ever be the same again for the Secretary General of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, whose mission until now was to guarantee the application of the purest Macronian thinking. Has the time come to leave? Our journalist Laureline Dupont investigates.
Emmanuel Macron with the Secretary General of the Elysée Alexis Kohler. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
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LR claims Matignon
The LR president of Hauts-de-France Xavier Bertrand, as well as the deputy Olivier Marleix, pleaded Tuesday for the appointment of a Prime Minister from their camp who would take the head of a “rallying government” in order to “put a stop to LFI”. “We need an emergency government with LR, independents, Emmanuel Macron’s camp, and perhaps also men and women of good will who clearly want our country not to be paralyzed”, explained Xavier Bertrand on France 2. According to him, this solution would make it possible to “put a stop to LFI” which also claims Matignon and whose program he described as “completely crazy and fiscal bludgeoning”.
Other LR figures have also called for the appointment of a head of government from their ranks, while a group of right-wing MPs gathered around Laurent Wauquiez refuse any alliance with Macronie. Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, for example, called on Tuesday for a “technical agreement” between the presidential camp and Les Républicains (LR), who will have to, in the event of a refusal, “explain to their voters that they preferred a government of the New Popular Front with LFI”.
The National Rally takes up residence in the Assembly
The leading party in France after the European elections but the third bloc in the Assembly after the legislative elections, the National Rally is also making its return to the Palais Bourbon this Wednesday. The Le Penist party and its allies should have 143 deputies, at least 123 of whom should sit in the RN group chaired by Marine Le Pen. Its elected representatives will arrive in a group from 9:30 a.m.
The RN is clearly progressing since it had 89 deputies elected in 2022. Faced with the “republican barrier” organized by all the other political parties, the RN remains outside all the negotiations underway to appoint a Prime Minister and form a government. In any case, it will sit in the opposition, with the aim of relaunching itself in view of the 2027 presidential election.
On the right, the deputies of the Les Républicains (LR) party are also expected at the Palais Bourbon on Wednesday, under the leadership of Laurent Wauquiez who is making his big comeback there.
Still no agreement within the New Popular Front
The battle is raging between the two main components of the NFP for a possible entry into Matignon, in particular between a France Insoumise (LFI) that is more or less stable (70 to 80 elected representatives), and a reinvigorated Socialist Party (PS) that hopes to at least be on an equal footing. “I am ready to take on this role,” declared the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure on Tuesday upon his arrival at the Palais Bourbon. A response to the activism of LFI and its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon who is claiming the position for one of the members of his close guard. The leader of the radical left insistently mentions the name of the young deputy from Val-de-Marne, Clémence Guetté, 33 years old and coordinator of his presidential program in 2022.
On Tuesday evening, the New Popular Front also “solemnly” warned Emmanuel Macron against keeping Gabriel Attal at Matignon, accusing him of “blocking” the appointment of a Prime Minister from its ranks, a position denounced by the presidential camp which advocates “realism” and a broader coalition.
Mathilde Panot re-elected as head of LFI
MP Mathilde Panot announced that she had been re-elected Tuesday as president of the parliamentary group of La France insoumise (LFI) in the National Assembly. On the social network X, she sent her “warm thanks” to the elected Insoumis who were meeting Tuesday for the first time in the new legislature. Mathilde Panot, 35, is very close to LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. She has been a member of parliament for Val-de-Marne since 2017 and president of the group since October 2021. LFI should bring together between 70 and 80 deputies, once the parliamentary groups are definitively composed.