Macron to name new French PM on Friday in bid to restore stability
President Emmanuel Macron will delay announcing his choice for France’s next prime minister until Friday, according to the Elysée Palace, as he seeks to resolve months of political unrest.
Eight days after French MPs ousted Michel Barnier as prime minister through a no-confidence vote, Macron cut short a visit to Poland on Thursday, fueling expectations that he would name a successor upon his return. However, after landing at Villacoublay Airbase near Paris, his team confirmed that a statement would not be issued until Friday morning.
France’s political landscape has been in a state of gridlock since Macron called snap parliamentary elections over the summer. When he does appoint a new prime minister, it will mark his fourth this year.
An opinion poll conducted for BFMTV on Thursday revealed that 61% of French voters are concerned about the current political crisis.
While Macron had previously signaled that a decision would come by the end of Thursday, political observers note his penchant for timing announcements strategically, often emphasizing his role as the maître des horloges—master of the clocks.
Despite Barnier’s ousting, Macron has pledged to remain in office until his second term concludes in 2027. In recent days, he has held round-table discussions with leaders of major political parties, excluding Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed (LFI) and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.
Macron faces the challenge of forming a government that can withstand opposition in the National Assembly, avoiding the fate that led to Barnier’s dismissal.
It is thought he will either seek to bring parties from the centre left into the government, or agree a pact so they do not oust the next prime minister as well.
The former Brexit negotiator was voted out when Le Pen’s National Rally joined left-wing MPs in rejecting his plans for €60bn (£50bn) in tax cuts and spending rises. He was seeking to cut France’s budget deficit, which is set to hit 6.1% of economic output (GDP) this year.
Among the favourites to replace Barnier, who lasted only three months as prime minister, were centrist MoDem leader François Bayrou, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and centre-left ex-prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Under the political system of France’s Fifth Republic, the president is elected for five years and then appoints a prime minister whose choice of cabinet is then appointed by the president.
Unusually, President Macron called snap elections for parliament over the summer after poor results in the EU elections in June. The outcome left France in political stalemate, with three large political blocs made up of the left, centre and far right.
Eventually he chose Michel Barnier to form a minority government reliant on Marine Le Pen’s National Rally for its survival. But now that has fallen, Macron is hoping to restore stability without depending on her party.
Three centre-left parties – the Socialists, Greens and Communists – have broken ranks with the more radical left LFI and have taken part in talks on forming a new government.
However, they have made clear they want to see a leftist prime minister of their choice if they are going to join a broad-based government.
“I told you I wanted someone from the left and the Greens and I think Mr Bayrou isn’t one or the other,” Greens leader Marine Tondelier told French TV on Thursday, adding that she did not see how the centrist camp that lost parliamentary elections could hold the post of prime minister and maintain the same policies.
However, she also said she was not in favour of Bernard Cazeneuve, even though he was a Socialist: “The only times he’s talked about us was to criticise us. He can’t represent us.”
Relations between the centre left and the radical LFI of Jean-Luc Mélenchon appear to have broken down over the three parties’ decision to pursue talks with President Macron.
After the LFI leader called on his former allies to steer clear of a coalition deal, Olivier Faure of the Socialists told French TV that “the more Mélenchon shouts the less he’s heard”.
Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen has called for her party’s policies on the cost of living to be taken into account by the incoming government, by building a budget that “doesn’t cross each party’s red lines”.
Michel Barnier’s caretaker government has put forward a bill to enable the provisions of the 2024 budget to continue into next year. But a replacement budget for 2025 will have to be approved once the next government takes office.
