President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister on Friday morning, his office has said, as pressure mounted to fill the post a week after French lawmakers toppled the government.
"The statement naming the prime minister will be published tomorrow morning," the Elysee presidential palace said on Thursday after Macron returned early from a trip to Poland.
"He is finishing his consultations," an aide to the president added.
Macron had been widely expected to name a prime minister on Thursday evening.
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The new delay, albeit an overnight delay, underscores the political challenges posed by the fractured lower house of parliament, a result of July's snap elections.
The assembly remains split among a leftist alliance, centrists and conservatives, and the far-right National Rally (RN), complicating efforts to secure a stable government capable of surviving no-confidence votes.
On Thursday, Greens leader Marine Tondelier urged Macron to take bold action.
"The French public want a bit of enthusiasm, momentum, fresh wind, something new," she said in an interview with France 2 television, adding that the president needs to "get out of his comfort zone."
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The urgency to name a new government leader follows last week’s confidence vote, which ousted former prime minister Michel Barnier.
His administration, backed by Macron's centrists and Barnier's conservative allies, fell over a contentious cost-cutting budget proposal.
Meanwhile, Barnier’s caretaker government on Wednesday approved an emergency bill aimed at maintaining essential financial functions, including tax collection and borrowing, despite the absence of a formal 2025 budget plan.
The stopgap measure is expected to pass parliament on Monday with broad support.
As the political gridlock continues, Macron faces mounting pressure to secure a cohesive government while navigating the fragmented parliamentary landscape.
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Political stalemate
Whoever is named will be the sixth prime minister of Macron's mandate after the toppling of Barnier, who lasted only three months, and faces an immediate challenge in thrashing out a budget to pass parliament.
Each premier under Macron has served successively less time in office and there is no guarantee for the new premier that they will not follow this pattern.
Macron remains confronted with the complex political equation that emerged from the snap parliamentary polls – how to secure a government against a no-confidence vote in a bitterly divided lower house where no party or alliance has a majority.
All the candidates widely floated so far have encountered objections from at least one side of the political spectrum.
"They are stuck," someone close to Macron said, asking not to be named and lamenting that "each name gets blocked."
"No one is in agreement around the president," added the source, expressing hope Macron will surprise everyone with an unexpected choice.
Macron's rumoured top pick, veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, raises hackles on the left – wary of continuing the president's policies – and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Beyond Bayrou, prime ministerial contenders include former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, current Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, and former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Another name being discussed in the media is Roland Lescure, a former industry minister, but the nomination of the former Socialist risks inflaming the right.
(with newswires)
