the date of appointment of Barnier's replacement officially announced by the Élysée

POLITICS – It's a little later than expected, but we finally know when France will have a Prime Minister. The successor to the short-lived Michel Barnier will be named Friday morning by Emmanuel Macron, the Élysée announced this Thursday, December 12 in the evening in a press release.

“The statement appointing the Prime Minister will be published tomorrow (Friday) morning”said the president's entourage, when the latter had just landed near Paris, returning from a visit to Poland.

Emmanuel Macron had initially promised to appoint the head of government on Thursday at the latest. “He concludes his consultations”those around him told AFP, without further explanation.

“Barrage with every name”

After first considering announcing his choice the day after December 4, the day of the historic censorship of the Barnier government, the Head of State promised Tuesday afternoon a Prime Minister “within 48 hours”. An oath made to the leaders of formations in an arc going from the communists to the right, united in search of compromise and in the absence of the National Rally (RN) and La France insoumise.

Ultimately, the choice turns out to be even more difficult than expected. “They are in the trap”there is a “barrage with every name”deplores someone close to Emmanuel Macron. “No one is in agreement around the president”he adds, hoping that the latter will surprise everyone with an unexpected profile.

The president has tried to ensure in recent days that the future executive would benefit from a “non-censorship pact” particularly from the Socialist Party, or even the Ecologists.

Bayrou, Cazeneuve… or Lescure?

What name to extricate the country from an unprecedented political crisis? François Bayrou, the faithful centrist ally who always bides his time and this time seemed the favorite? Or Bernard Cazeneuve, to reward the pledges given by the Socialist Party, certain deputies of which, including ex-president François Hollande, dub the former Prime Minister at the last minute?

Unless to these two tenors, the Head of State prefers a team leader less known to the French. Thursday afternoon, several deputies from the National Rally, including executives Sébastien Chenu and Jean-Philippe Tanguy, successively marked on since Wednesday. “Roland Lescure?” Motion of censure »even wrote the spokesperson for the lepéniste group Laure Lavalette, before deleting her message.

Parliamentary sources confirmed that the name of this social-liberal deputy of the French established in North America, who had criticized the weight of Marine Le Pen's party in the birth of the Barnier government, was indeed on the table.

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