The 2024 Paris Olympics ended this Sunday evening, and with them the Olympic and political truce declared by Emmanuel Macron. The countdown is now accelerating for the president who must appoint a new Prime Minister.
The essentials
- The Olympic Games ended this Sunday evening, thus marking the end of the Olympic truce. According to a close friend of the president to Le Parisien, the appointment of a new Prime Minister and his government team could take place “around August 15”, this week.
- The president could, however, be tempted to extend this Olympic truce. A potential Council of Ministers, once planned for this Monday, has been ruled out.
- For the post of Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron is still looking for the ideal profile. A “consensual” man or woman, who has “experience”, and “who pleases both the left and the right”, among others.
- For the time being, three candidates have officially expressed their interest in Matignon: Xavier Bertrand (LR), Lucie Castets (NFP) and Bernard Cazeneuve (La Convention). At the same time, the names of more technical profiles are cited: Jean-Louis Borloo and Michel Barnier.
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12:04 – Tensions between LFI and the presidential majority are resuming in earnest
The Olympic truce has barely ended and political differences are gaining ground again. “There is a gold medal that we forgot to award, that of indecency and anti-France for La France Insoumise,” declared Prisca Thevenot, government spokesperson, on Sud Radio. She was responding to an LFI MP who called France an “Islamophobic country” for banning athletes from wearing the veil. “La France Insoumise has a permanent anti-France discourse on everything, on the police, on justice, on the relationship with the media (and) on secularism,” she added. This confirms the exclusion of any compromise between the two camps with a view to forming a government. The government spokesperson did, however, hope to “be able to form a coalition with the republican forces, which range from social democracy to the historic LR.” She specified that this could take time: “a coalition is not formed in a few days.”
11:15 – The Council of Ministers has been postponed
The resigning government of Gabriel Attal is still in charge of current affairs and no official date for the end of this mission has been set. A Council of Ministers, once planned for this Monday, ultimately did not take place. The president prefers to receive on August 12 at the Elysée “representatives of those who contributed to making these Games a success.”
10:45 – The Olympic truce ends
This Sunday marked the closing day of the Paris Olympics, even though the Paralympic Games will begin on August 28. This goes hand in hand with the end of the political truce desired by Emmanuel Macron. In an interview with L’Equipe, Emmanuel Macron stated that the dissolution of the National Assembly had not “spoiled” the Olympics and that it was “more responsible to clarify” the French political situation before the start of the event. Emmanuel Macron also made a correlation between the political situation and the progress of the games: “the message that the French sent is very consistent with the Games: work together. That’s what they told the political forces” after the elections. early legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. “When we have common goals, when we work together, nothing is insurmountable,” he added.
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How soon will the new government be appointed?
Emmanuel Macron called for a “political truce” for the duration of the Olympic Games, while Gabriel Attal’s government resigned on July 16. The President of the Republic 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…
So, if the name of Gabriel Attal’s replacement was starting to take on the appearance of an open secret, the President of the Republic could speed up on this matter. According to information from Le Parisien, Emmanuel Macron could designate the name of the new occupant of Matignon “around August 15”, “without excluding that it could go faster”. Finally, according to Politico, the Council of Ministers once mentioned on August 12 is no longer on the agenda. Given the relatively busy schedule of the Head of State, expected in Brégançon for several commemorations, the status quo could continue at least until August 18, or even until the end of August.
What could be the profile of the future Prime Minister?
Emmanuel Macron is taking 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. The newspaper Le Monde also reveals that the posture of “the omnipresent”, adopted by Emmanuel Macron could now transform into a “Mitterrandian attitude”.
On Wednesday, July 31, our colleagues at Politico also indicated that another option could catch Emmanuel Macron’s attention, even if Xavier Bertrand’s rating seems higher than ever in the race for Matignon. A minister confided to them that a profile “retired from political life”, “in any case closer to the end than the beginning” of his career could hold the rope. He notably cites former ministers from the Republican right: Michel Barnier or Jean-Louis Borloo.
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 occupy the post of Prime Minister in place of Gabriel Attal. Unsurprisingly, Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Hauts-de-France region. Then Michel Barnier, a former minister whom we told you about in this article on July 31 as part 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 in government, Parliament, and compromise,” believes the Macronist minister, from the right.