France’s longest temporary government: is there a deadline for a new PM?

It has been 40 days since Prime Minister Gabriel Attal resigned, leaving France without an appointed government for a record length of time. We look at how long this situation can last.

The legislative elections on July 7 resulted in a surprise win for the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) as well as major gains for the far-right Rassemblement National. However, no single party won enough seats in parliament to form an absolute majority.

Read more: France still seeks political direction (and a new prime minister)

Gabriel Attal announced the resignation of his government on July 16 after his (and President Macron’s) centrist alliance of Renaissance lost seats in the election.

Mr Attal subsequently agreed to remain as a ‘caretaker’ prime minister to handle ongoing matters.

According to the constitution of the French Republic, the president appoints a prime minister, who in turn names the government ministers. 

Convention holds that the prime minister should come from the largest party in parliament. Technically, this is the left-wing alliance of the NFP.

Senior civil servant Lucie Castets is the NFP’s candidate of choice for the role.

In theory, a French prime minister does not need to have the support of a particular political group, however this would leave the government open to the possibility of a motion de censure - effectively a vote of no confidence - undermining its authority and wasting parliamentary time. 

While the threat of a motion de censure is relatively common, with a total of 115 attempts in French political history, it has only been successfully used once, in 1962.

Read more: French left’s PM candidate: who is she and Macron’s reaction 

On July 10, Mr Macron announced that he would leave some time for the political situation to settle and for alliances to form before choosing a prime minister - and for the Paris Olympics to end.

When does President Macron have to appoint a government?

In most cases a prime minister is named within two days and the previous record of 37 days was set in the 1950s.

Constitutional law professor Thibault Guilluy, told Ouest France that the law does not stipulate a timeframe.

“Article 8 of the constitution states that the President of the Republic appoints the prime minister and that, on the prime minister's advice, he appoints the ministers,” said Mr Guilluy.

“However, there is nothing in this article, in the constitution, or more generally in the law, that sets a time limit between the election of a president and the appointment of a prime minister and a government.”

While in theory there is no obligation to appoint a prime minister within three - or even six - months, in practice this would make many crucial aspects of governance unfeasible. 

Mr Macron has been meeting with the representatives of the major political parties and alliances, starting with the NFP on August 23. He is scheduled to meet the far-right Rassemblement National on August 26.