Emmanuel Macron It is not easy for him to choose the new French prime minister: Your bet now seems clear but it does not mean that you are convinced. Has to find someone the left likes so as not to depend on Marine Le Pen and the radical right, as has already happened with Michel Barnier’s Executive, but at the same time that is not the path that the Elysée wants. Macron has been given until the end of the week to decide, and while there are already several names on the table, such as François Bayrou, Sébastien Lecornu, Bernard Cazeneuve or Cathernie Vautrin.
Both the socialists and the environmentalists made it clear this Tuesday that they were not “too optimistic”, but that the logic is that “now try the left, because you have already tried the right.” That route, Barnier’s, failed miserably, with the shortest Government of the Fifth Republic after only 91 days in power. “We want a left-wing prime minister and, therefore, it is up to the president of the Republic to explain to us Why would he choose someone from the right, like he did the first time?“said the leader of the PS, Olivier Faure. Both he and the head of the Greens, Marine Tondelier, want Macron to take into account that the New Popular Front (NFP) is the majority force in the National Assembly.
The government of the conservative Barnier, which was already approved with many doubts last summer and supported by the extreme right, fell after Barnier approved the Social Security Budget by decree, through article 49.3 of the Constitutionand bypassing Parliament. He had no support for a vote, even despite giving in to RN on issues such as energy or pensions. This step caused the NFP, the majority force in the Assembly, to present a motion of censure, to which it added the votes of Le Pen’s party.
From former ministers to eternal options
Bernard Cazeneuve He is one of the strongest options, and was already in the running for the position in the summer, but the progressive side does not like him. He Former Minister of the Interior already knows what it is like to be Prime Minister and that gives him a certain advantagein addition to his seniority and his good relationship with the president. The PS ruled him out because despite being a center-left man, he did not want to give his support to the NFP. That reduces many possibilities when it comes to passing a vote in the National Assembly. The option of the leader of the Democratic Movement (Modem), François Bayrou, has also come to nothing.which was also a possibility for Macron. “What we ask for and what the French want is a break with the policy carried out until now,” Faure said in an interview.
In that scenario the name of Sebastien Lecornuone of Macron’s great faithful who has also served in several ministries, such as the Ecological Transition. His youth is an important step and from Paris he is seen as an important profile to be able to speak, if necessary, with the radical right. Again, He is another figure whose centrism does not convince the progressive forcesalthough from the PS, for example, they have not openly criticized him.
It seems that in current French politics the perfect candidate does not exist. Catherine Vautrin It is also on the list but it has no options because the left openly rejects her because she has a profile very similar to that of Barnier: His appointment could serve to consolidate the common points between the Macronists and the Republicans, so it would mean repeating the failed path chosen in the summer. Vautrin, in 2012, participated in the demonstrations against gay marriage and fought against the Taubira law – on slavery – in the Assembly.
More seniority presents Jean-Yves Le Drianwho was also a minister during the time of François Hollande and therefore comes from the old guard of the Socialist Party. Yet, He himself seems to have ruled himself out, although his experience as Defense head in the past gives him qualities that can fit well with the dynamics of today’s world. François Baroin, another of those closest to Macron who always comes out as a resource, sounds equally weak. “He is a local politician who comes from the right, but has always maintained very good relations with the PS. And he has nothing against the RN. So he can find an uncensored majority around him,” a source explains about him. cited by Le Parisien.
Castets, the name of the NFP that Macron does not value
In all this pool, finally, it remains Lucie Castetswhich has remained the NFP option for Matignon since the summer. She is still willing, but for Emmanuel Macron it does not seem to be an option precisely because he has not even sat down with France Insoumise. Jean Luc Melénchon, in fact, has accused the president of being “instrumentalizing and trying to divide” the leftso that would completely rule out Castets, who at the same time is hostage to the different approaches on the left: the socialists are in the government’s commitment to the center, while the radicals remain in the call for an early presidential election that would unblock the political situation.