First post-legislative Council of Ministers: will Emmanuel Macron finally accept the resignation of Gabriel Attal ?

The first post-legislative Council of Ministers meets this Tuesday, July 16, 2024 and could pave the way for a resignation of Gabriel Attal, even if the Prime Minister would remain in place to manage "current affairs" . The left, for its part, cannot agree to propose its candidate for Matignon.

Around Emmanuel Macron, the government will meet at 11:30 a.m. this Tuesday July 16, 2024 at the Elysée for the first Council of Ministers since the arrival leading the New Popular Front in the legislative elections, with a new Assembly divided into three blocs – left, presidential camp and RN – deprived of a clear majority.

The head of state could accept the resignation of Gabriel Attal, even if the current team would continue to manage "current affairs&quot ;, particularly during the very sensitive period of the Paris Olympic Games, from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

"In the name of continuity"

This new configuration would ensure "in the name of continuity, the minimal functioning of the State", explains a note from the General Secretariat of the Government (SGG) dated July 2, 2024.

The situation would also offer ministers elected as deputies the possibility of regaining their parliamentary mandate to participate in the election to the presidency of the National Assembly on Thursday, then Friday and Saturday for the allocation of strategic positions in the Palace Bourbon.

Gabriel Attal would thus be both resigning Prime Minister and president of the Ensemble pour la République group, the new name of Renaissance, which raises questions about the separation of powers, according to jurists like Benjamin Morel.

"Discussions with LR"

Political time seems suspended on the election to the presidency of the Assembly, for which negotiations are going well.

The presidential camp is trying to find an alternative majority in order to prevent the left-wing coalition from gaining the perch. The subject was on the menu of discussions around Emmanuel Macron on Monday at the Elysée.

"The idea was to see […] how to envisage a personality other than that proposed by the New Popular Front (NFP) presiding over it. Assembly", confirms a participant. "There are discussions with LR […] logic would dictate that they support a candidacy like that of Yaël Braun-Pivet", the outgoing Macronist president who hopes to stay on the perch.

"A unique application"

On the left, discussions to submit a candidate for the post of Prime Minister continue to become tense and also seem to depend on the election to the presidency of the Assembly.< /p>

Jean-Luc Mélenchon raised his voice on Monday. "We demand a single candidacy from the New Popular Front for the presidency of the National Assembly and will not resume any discussions on anything else until this is settled” ;, wrote the rebellious leader on X.

Concerning the Prime Minister, LFI also opposed a candidacy from civil society.

But socialists, communists and ecologists returned to the charge Monday evening by proposing such a profile, the climate specialist Laurence Tubiana, and by demanding "immediate recovery& ;quot; discussions.

Arm wrestling

The Insoumis immediately criticized a personality that they considered "Macron compatible", a "renunciation of the" program of the New Popular Front, according to them.

In the middle of this standoff, another candidate, from the center right, hopes to come out on top for the presidency of the National Assembly: Charles de Courson, 72 years old, including more than 30 years at the Palais Bourbon scrapping over budgetary issues.

This former representative of the independent Liot group had attracted the good graces of the left by fighting pension reform, going so far as to bring a motion of censure which had almost brought down the government of Elisabeth Borne.