Fifty-seven days after the second round of the legislative elections, Emmanuel Macron is still looking for a Prime Minister. While the appointment is slow in coming, several names of potential candidates are emerging over the course of the consultations.
A Prime Minister from the left, the right or civil society? At the start of the third week of consultations – presented as the last – to find a head of government, the interviews took place one after the other on Monday, September 2 at the Élysée.
Eight weeks after the legislative elections which resulted in a National Assembly without an absolute majority, several names are coming up repeatedly for Matignon, some pulling the string more than others, according to the presidential camp.
Cazeneuve is “not a decoy”
Bernard Cazeneuve opened the ball of these new consultations at the Élysée Palace, this Monday for an hour and fifteen minutes. The name of the former Minister of the Interior has been coming up insistently since the end of last week.
“We must not underestimate the importance of the meeting he had with the president,” a close friend of Emmanuel Macron assured BFMTV. “Bernard Cazeneuve is not a decoy.”
The entourage of the former socialist, who left the PS in 2022 – being fiercely opposed to the alliance with France Insoumise – made it known that he was “available to serve the country”.
Although he could have the support of the central bloc and part of the right, he is not supported by any of the left-wing parties, even if his arrival at Matignon could divide the socialists.
“Bernard Cazeneuve suits everyone here, unless he repeals the pension reform. Then we would censor him,” confided an Ensemble MP (ex-Renaissance).
A senior member of the presidential camp qualified: “Bernard Cazeneuve would be the default choice, because it is not at all certain that he will fracture the left. In addition, he seems to set a lot of conditions.”
Beaudet’s surprise divides
This Monday, the hypothesis of Thierry Beaudet, unknown to the general public at the Élysée, also began to circulate. But the head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), aged 62, is not unanimous in the former majority.
Some see him as a “good profile”, like this Ensemble MP who noted on BFMTV that Thierry Beaudet was “close to CFDT circles” and “embodied civil society”. Before adding: “But if it’s him, we need to bring in very political profiles into the government.”
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A majority official shares this positive opinion, mentioning a strategic appointment: “How can you censor someone who has never expressed his political thoughts? And then, it’s a good signal sent to civil society, which really needs it. And to the French, since he chairs a Citizens’ Assembly.”
Others are more reserved. “The political situation has never been so complicated, and we would put a Prime Minister who has never done politics in his life? It’s crazy!” protested a centrist MP. “He chairs the Cese, but the members of the Cese next to the MPs are Care Bears.”
A former majority official continued: “He has two main problems: he is not holding up in this Assembly and he is not bringing any votes to the left.”
The Beaudet track could also fade away as the hours go by. According to a close friend of the president, “things are stuck this afternoon.” “He may be less ready to have things imposed on him by the president than the president would have thought,” he whispered.
Bertrand is no longer “in the race”
Another personality received today by Emmanuel Macron: Xavier Bertrand. The president of Hauts-de-France, head of the Republicans party aged 59, did not hide that the position interested him and the former president Sarkozy judged that it would be “a good choice”.
However, a senior member of the presidential camp dismissed the option: “The left will censor him, the right too… Only Nicolas Sarkozy still believes in a right-wing Prime Minister.”
While a member of parliament from the former presidential majority quipped: “Really? Is he still in the race?”
But when will this race end? Asked about this last week, Emmanuel Macron promised to make “every effort” to “reach the best solution for the country”, specifying that he would “speak to the French people in due time and in the right framework”.
“The President of the Republic should send signals that he will no longer dissolve Ensemble,” said an Ensemble MP. “That would shake things up, especially in the PS.”
According to a close friend of the head of state, Emmanuel Macron is taking his time to “be sure that it will be a lasting government”. “And he is firm in his will: Ideally, a coalition government, he explained, that is to say, bringing together ministers from the right and the left.” And to conclude: “With him, we still don’t know what to expect. But at least now, we know how to wait.”
BFMTV’s political service
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