FRANCE
Former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeuneuve has arrived at the Elysee Palace to meet with President Emmanuel Macron as consultations continue amid long-running efforts to form a new gov't. Cazeneuve, hailing from the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) previously served as PM under President Francois Hollande from Dec 2016-May 2017. Macron is also set to meet with the centre-right President of the Haute-de-France region Xavier Bertrand, as well as his two predecessors Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.
- Local media reports suggest that an appointment is unlikely to be made today, but there is the prospect of an announcement coming tomorrow (3 September).
- The appointment of a PS candidate as PM would put the unity of the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) to the test. To date, the PS has said that it would continue to support NFP nominee Lucie Castets to be the next PM. Macron has refused to appoint her, claiming that she would immediately face a censure vote in the National Assembly and be ousted (a likely scenario).
- PS leader Olivier Faure has said that while he does not have any problem with Cazeneuve as a candidate, he and his party would vote against any continuation of 'Macronism'. Given that a Cazeneuve gov't would need the backing of Macron's centrist Ensemble, the conservative Republican Right, and the PS (among other small groupings) to carry a majority it could prove difficult to bring about a non-Macronist policy platform in a gov't that has Macron's bloc as its largest component.
Chart 1. National Assembly, Prospective Government
Source: Le Monde, MNI
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