President Emmanuel Macron is getting ready to announce a new prime minister following the legislative elections that caused political deadlock in France.
The announcement could come as early as Wednesday evening, according to sources close to him.
However, the identity of the new head of government is still uncertain. Xavier Bertrand, a conservative former minister, is considered the frontrunner, but Macron has also been considering bringing back former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
Adding to the speculation, the right-wing mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, has emerged as a new contender on Wednesday.
The outcome could finally be announced on Wednesday.
This is “the objective”, a source close to Macron told AFP, adding that Bertrand and Cazeneuve were still in the race.
Either of the pair would likely face a no-confidence motion that could garner support from both the left bloc and the far-right National Rally (RN), both implacably opposed to Macron and his policy record.
Lisnard, however, is regarded as a more palatable figure for the RN, who after the election make up the single biggest party in parliament.
Bertrand served as minister under conservative presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy and has more recently run the northern Hauts-de-France region, where he vaunts his two electoral victories holding back the RN’s advance.
Macron’s decision comes under the gun of a deadline to submit a draft 2025 government budget for France’s strained government finances before October 1.
It also marks his attempt to acknowledge rejection of his seven-year rule without giving up on hard-fought reforms, chief among them last year’s widely resented increase to the official retirement age.
After a snap election deprived Macron of his relative majority in parliament on July 7, the centrist president has drawn out the appointment of a new prime minister for a period unprecedented since World War II, through the July-August Olympic Games and beyond.
Macron called the polls earlier this summer after the far right trounced his ruling party in June European elections.
A left-wing coalition emerged from the election as the biggest political force but with nowhere near enough seats for an overall majority, while Macron’s centrist faction and the far right make up the two other major groups in the National Assembly.
