Talks Continue, But Still No Sign Of Compromise To Get New PM

President Emmanuel Macron and the main political forces in the National Assembly show little sign of extricating themselves from France's political quagmire. Speculation over the weekend that an announcement on the identity of a new prime minister could come on 3 September swiftly turned sour as it became clear that - as yet - neither of the two most prominent candidates for office had enough support to avoid an immediate censure vote in the chamber.

• Former centre-left Socialist Party (PS) PM Bernard Cazeneuve and President of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand, from the centre-right Les Republicains, remain the two frontrunners, but both face obstacles.
• Cazeneuve left the PS during the parliamentary election campaign, opposing the party's alliance with Jean-Luc Melenchon's far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) as part of the leftist New Popular Front (NFP). On the evening of 3 Sep, the party ruled out 'unconditional support' for any Cazeneuve-led gov't.
• For Bertrand, the path to Matignon (the PM's residence) is even slimmer. The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) has said that it will vote against Bertrand in any censure vote. Spox Sebastien Chen said of Bertrand "...we know his record, we know his actions (...) . He is someone who, in reality, has no backbone... He is someone who works for himself (...)." The NFP will also vote against him, instead continuing to back their own candidate Lucie Castets. Both of these blocs voting against Bertrand would see him lose a censure vote.