By Nassim Hariss, Year 10
GABRIEL ATTAL
On the 9th of January 2024, Gabriel Attal was nominated Prime Minister, succeeding Elisabeth Borne. He became the youngest French prime minister ever recorded. This is due to the fact that he is largely active on social media which makes him very appealing to the younger generations. Indeed, he was nominated as France´s favorite political figure.
THE “DISSOLUTION”
On the 9th of June 2024, President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the “Assemblée Nationale”. What does this mean for Mr. Attal? Attal consequently resigned from his job, in compliance with the French tradition where the prime minister has to resign from his job after legislative elections. Even if this is not mandatory, it is considered extremely unconventional for the prime minister to stay in his position after such an occurrence.
THE LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
After a long time of having an inactive government, France finally elected all the members of the Assemblée Nationale. There are a total of 289 headquarters available. The left party got the majority of the seats. However, the results were generally politically mixed, meaning that the government may encounter problems making decisions quickly and efficiently.
MICHEL BARNIER
According to French law, the president should choose a prime minister from the party holding the absolute majority to avoid discordance in the government itself and to facilitate his decision. This was not the case here, even if the left party held the most votes. In fact, Macron chose a prime minister from the right party, Michel Barnier. He did indeed receive a lot of criticism for his choice as it can cause power imbalances and decelerate government decision-making.
A BUDGET
Every year, the French government has to choose a budget for all national matters. Consequently, Michel Barnier suggested one, which did not have the the approval of the Assemblée Nationale. As there were many other issues to be considered, Barnier used the 49/3 rule to enforce his budget. The risk when using the 49/3 is that it gives the Assemblé Nationale the right to do what is called a `motion de censure`: forcing Barnier to resign from his new position.
FRANCOIS BAYROU
After this event, the government instantly needed a new prime minister. Weirdly, Emmanuel Macron chose another person from the right party, which seems like a bad decision as it clearly did not work the previous time. This made him receive even more disapproval from the public. Additionally, many important figures have been interviewed on the subject, all predicting a passive and inefficient government.
NOW WHAT?
The nomination of François Bayrou will impact many aspects of French politics, including the ministries of education, justice, health care, which will directly affect the future lives of the French population. We will have to wait in order to judge the efficacy of this decision, but from what can be inferred France is turning away from a stable and united government.
SOURCES:
https://www.vie-publique.fr/en-bref/296581-francois-bayrou-nomme-premier-ministre
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Attal
https://www.info.gouv.fr/actualite/demission-de-michel-barnier
