French President accepts Prime Minister’s resignation

Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron accepted the prime minister’s resignation on Tuesday but kept him on as head of a caretaker government.

Macron’s office said in a statement that Macron “accepted” the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and other ministers on Tuesday.

Attal and other government members are “to handle current affairs until a new government is being appointed”, the statement said.

There is no firm timeline for when Macron must name a new prime minister.

France is about to host the Paris Olympic Games at the end of the month.

Attal offered his resignation last week after a chaotic election result left the government in limbo. Macron asked him to remain temporarily as the head of the government pending a further decision, with France about to be under an international spotlight as it hosts the Paris Olympics.

French media said the prime minister’s resignation is expected to be formally accepted by Macron by Tuesday evening.

The move would allow Attal to take up his seat as a lawmaker in the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of government, and lead the group of Macron’s centrist allies. It would also prevent him from being exposed to a potential no-confidence vote in parliament.

The opening session of the National Assembly is scheduled for Thursday.

The caretaker government led by Attal would focus only on handling day-to-day affairs. There is no firm timeline for when Macron, who held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, must name a new prime minister.

France has been on the brink of government paralysis since elections for the National Assembly earlier this month resulted in a split among three major political groupings: the New Popular Front leftist coalition, Macron’s centrist allies and the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen.

The New Popular Front won the most seats but fell well short of the outright majority needed to govern on its own.

The leftist coalition’s three main parties the Socialists and the Greens, have urged the president to turn to them to form the new government, yet their internal talks have turned into a harsh dispute over whom to choose as

prime minister.