French Prime Minister position has been vacant for 38 days, and President Macron has finally initiated consultations today, meeting with various political parties. The left-wing alliance, the New People’s Front, urges Macron to accept their candidate, while the center-right and far-left are at odds over cabinet appointments, making the timeline for a new Prime Minister uncertain.
Following the conclusion of the Paris Olympics on the 11th, President Macron has taken action today to find a successor for the record-breaking caretaker government from the three-way split in parliament.
Macron dissolved the parliament in June due to dissatisfaction with the rise of the far-right in the European Parliament elections, leading to two rounds of voting on June 30th and July 7th, where the left-wing alliance, the New People’s Front, emerged victorious. The far-right National Rally fell to third place, and the centrist President’s camp, Ensemble, came in second.
With the three main forces evenly matched and internal divisions within the left-wing, as well as considerations related to the upcoming Paris Olympics, Macron has delayed until today to convene all major parliamentary party leaders for consultations at the presidential palace, hoping to find consensus on the new government lineup through “a series of exchanges.”
The first group to meet with the President was the largest parliamentary force, the New People’s Front alliance, composed of the European Green Party, the far-left party Unbowed France, the Socialist Party, and the French Communist Party.
After several rounds of discussions, the alliance had already nominated economist Lucie Castets as the Prime Minister candidate before the Olympics, expressing readiness to govern and repeatedly requesting Macron’s appointment.
Today, Castets and members of the New People’s Front emerged from the presidential palace for media interviews, appearing satisfied with the consultations. Castets described the talks as “rich in content.” She praised Macron as “rational,” acknowledging the voters’ desire for a “change in policy direction” in the parliamentary elections but also noting that Macron is still “trying to form his government.”
The left-wing Prime Minister candidate stated that she is prepared to “form a coalition government” to “try to find a path that ensures national stability and responds to the urgent needs of the people.”
The second group to meet with Macron was the ruling camp, Ensemble, who stated that the President acknowledged during the meeting that the parliamentary elections conveyed a “message of change,” but it was not a “complete denial” of the President’s camp.
Caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal advised Macron in person, suggesting that the nomination should not come from a centrist party but rather form a government that represents the spectrum from the left to the right to promote the interests of the French people.
However, Attal also emphasized to Macron that if a member of the far-left Unbowed France were to join the cabinet, Ensemble would immediately submit a motion of no confidence against the government. Key figures in the Ensemble camp, including former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, are also opposed to Unbowed France’s Jean-Luc Melenchon leading a faction in the cabinet.
Macron is scheduled to meet with the traditional right-wing Republican Party next, with leader Laurent Wauquiez reiterating that if a member of Unbowed France, described by various parties as a “sticking point,” were to become a minister, they would “immediately join a motion of no confidence.”
The presidential palace announced that consultations will continue on the 26th, with Macron meeting with the far-right National Rally, Eric Ciotti who left the Republican Party after aligning with the National Rally in the parliamentary elections, as well as the presidents of both chambers.
Although the New People’s Front, the largest parliamentary force, is vying for the position of Prime Minister, it is believed that Macron has several candidates in mind, such as heavyweight figures from the Republican Party Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Greater Paris Regional Council Valerie Pecresse, or former Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
The schedule for announcing the new Prime Minister is still unknown, with New People’s Front members suggesting that Macron should announce the new Prime Minister on the 27th or 28th.
However, according to the latest report from Le Parisien tonight, facing the possibility of a motion of no confidence, Macron is likely to begin a new round of party consultations on the 27th.