French President Emmanuel Macron is holding meetings with his predecessors and two senior politicians on Monday in his search to name the next prime minister. He promised to announce a new government leader this week, sources and media said.
Emmanuel Macron will receive this Monday the former presidents, socialist Francois Hollande and right-wing Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as Bernard Cazeneuve, a former member of the Socialist party and an experienced politician, sources close to Macron said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Macron has been under pressure to end weeks of political deadlock after he called a snap election that delivered an unwieldy hung parliament.
Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview with right-wing French daily Figaro published on 30 August that he called on the right to unite and govern.
Divisions
Cazeneuve – who was to be hosted at L'Elysée this morning –headed the government under Hollande from December 2016 to May 2017. He left the Socialist party two years ago to protest against its tightening links with far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.
He is consided by politicians and observers as one of the most likely candidates to lead the new government as he is seen as respected by right-wing parties while still being close to the left.
As well as this brief stint as prime minister at the end of Hollande's term, Cazeneuve was a minister three times – for European Affairs, Budget and Interior.
The Socialists are divided over this proposition and still wish to name Lucie Castets as prime minister.
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"Bernard Cazeneuve is not supported by any of the four left-wing parties in the country," said LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard.
Meanwhile, LFI deputies published their proposed resolution on Saturday to initiate impeachment proceedings against Macron, accusing him of "serious failure" to fulfil his "duty" by refusing to appoint Castets to Matignon.
Among the Ecologists-EELV, hostility remains against Cazeneuve, because of the death of activist Rémi Fraisse on the Sivens dam (Tarn), during clashes with the police in 2014, when he was Interior Minister.
Other options
Macron is also due to meet Xavier Bertrand, a member of the conservative Republicans and president of the Hauts-de-France region, also cited as a potential future prime minister although less frequently than Cazeneuve.
The President is largely said to prefer to appoint a prime minister from the right, hoping to draw the Republicans party into a coalition.
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Macron's gamble to call the snap parliamentary election in June backfired, with his centrist coalition losing dozens of seats and no party winning an absolute majority.
The left's New Popular Front alliance came first but Macron ruled out asking it to form a government after other parties said they would immediately vote it down.
Coalition deadlock
The situation is unprecedented in France. The nation has not known coalition building since Charles de Gaulle changed the constitution in 1958, creating the French Fifth Republic.
Even if the political paralysis continued after the appointment of a new government, Macron could not call a new snap election until July next year under the French constitution.
France's next prime minister will have the daunting task of trying to drive reforms, and of passing the 2025 budget in October through a hung parliament, while under pressure from the European Commission and bond markets to reduce its deficit.
(with newswires)
