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Macron poised to formally accept PM's resignation while leaving him in charge in bid to subvert election result
French President Emmanuel Macron (right) and French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attend the Bastille Day parade, July 14, 2024 in Paris
PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron was poised to formally accept Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation today — while leaving him in charge of a caretaker government.
Mr Attal offered his resignation last week after the pro-Macron Ensemble (“Together”) bloc he leads won fewer seats than the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF), and fewer votes than either it or the far-right National Rally.
No bloc has a parliamentary majority, a situation Mr Macron has exploited to avoid asking the largest one — the NPF — to try to form a government, which would be the usual procedure.
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As heavy industry flees and public-sector strikes paralyse the nation, the French leader’s increasingly desperate attempts to rule without a majority reveal the deep crisis at the heart of European liberal democracy, writes KEVIN OVENDEN
