In France, a temporary is required to handle different matters. For this purpose the President asked Gabriel Attal to lead the government for a limited period. The responsibility of this caretaker and his team is to manage daily tasks and hold the presidential seat until after the Paris Olympic starts. The Paris Olympic 2024 starts from July 26 and ends on August 11.
Macron also asked Attal to try to create a bigger coalition in the National Assembly. He wants Attal to work with moderate groups within the leftist New Popular Front alliance.
This alliance got the most votes but could not agree on a prime minister. This is because it includes different political views, from the hard-left France Unbowed to the center-left Socialist Party.
A survey made by Odoxa on July 11 expressed the opinion of many people. According to this survey, most French citizens are in favor of forming a coalition government to break the current deadlock. 43% of people support the idea. While the other 29% support the idea of “technocrat government.” In this government different people are included such as senior civil servants and experts from different areas of society. The least popular option, with 27% support, is a “cohabitation” arrangement, where Macron’s coalition would share power with the New Popular Front.
Many French citizens disagree with Macron’s decision to dissolve parliament. This move got criticism from 60% of the French population.
Both left and right political groups aren’t willing to compromise for a new coalition.
Few leaders want to support the unpopular president, whose party came second in the recent elections.
If parliament stays deadlocked, like Italy, Macron might consider a technocrat-led government. This type of cabinet, run by experts, could manage daily tasks and make agreed-upon changes.
This hasn’t been tried in France’s Fifth Republic. One advantage could be that MPs might avoid blame for tough decisions.
According to Morel, passing the budget would be less controversial if a wide-ranging coalition supported a skilled cabinet. Furthermore, MPs having a large number of votes could remove the technocratic government.
One of the Professor at Sciences Po Grenoble whose major field is politics said, it is unlikely that this nation would adopt a technocratic government like Italy’s. In Italy the responsibility of this type of government is to stabilize public finances and manage high level debt. Bouillard also highlights that the people of Italy were prepared for these measures.
The French public is not at all ready for significant cuts to social services. This is because dont show any interest in public finances. In June, France got criticized by the European Commission for the violation of European Union budget rules. This violation could lead to fines for overspending. But this has not shifted public opinion much.
According to Bouillard, politicians from the far right advocating for a technocratic government have their own motives. Sébastien Chenu, Vice-President of the National Rally (RN), recently stated on RMC radio that given the current political climate, “No solution seems acceptable other than, perhaps, a technocratic government free from any political affiliation.”
Bouillard stated: “ This is merely setting a “giant trap”.
Furthermore, if a technocratic government makes any effort to cut budgets, then it get criticism from the National Rally. This criticism means that governments do not fulfill their duties well, wasted money and should be voted out.
Bouillard also says, “ This would be preparing a perfect launch pad for the RN to take control of the government” at the next election, says Bouillard. “The RN would be able to portray themselves as saviors.”
Additionally, according to him, all parties lost elections that stand in favor of technocratic governments in Italy. This is because people are not happy with the austerity policies.
On the other hand, Giorgia Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, which opposed Draghi’s government in 2021, won the October 2022 elections and has become stronger since then.
