Emmanuel Macron continues to consult, but struggles to find satisfactory options. While the new hypothesis on an appointment of Thierry Beaudet to Matignon has emerged, the head of state would look again towards Bernard Cazeneuve.
The essentials
- Will the Prime Minister be known in the next few hours? According to the latest news, the deadline was set for Tuesday, September 3, or Wednesday at the latest, according to a close friend of Emmanuel Macron. Release.
- Unexpectedly, the name of Thierry Beaudet was added to the list of contenders for Matignon yesterday and appeared as the favorite. But the reception of the name of the president of the CESE, particularly in the presidential camp, could have cooled Emmanuel Macron according to the indiscretions of Politico. The fault lies in Thierry Beaudet’s profile, which is too technical and not political enough. However, an agreement in principle was concluded last week between the two men according to Opinion.
- Despite Thierry Beaudet’s entry into the race, Bernard Cazeneuve and Xavier Bertrand continue to be mentioned and tested by the political class for Matignon. While the socialist was holding the rope until Monday morning, he said he was inclined to settle at Matignon on condition that he could carry out his policy there, even if it breaks with that of the head of state. The meeting ended with a kiss between the two men: a sign of an agreement reached or an agreement on the impossibility of cohabitation between the two?
09:05 – A nomination too late for Matignon? “It’s normal” believes a Macronist
The appointment of the Prime Minister is delayed, but elected officials from the presidential camp are defending Emmanuel Macron, who is accused of procrastinating and playing for time to keep the upper hand. “It’s normal that it takes time,” declared Macronist MP Benjamin Haddad on Télématin this Tuesday, insisting that the situation is “unprecedented.” “The President of the Republic is taking responsibility. His role is to appoint a Prime Minister and choose a solution for stability for our institutions,” he added.
02/09/24 – 23:30 – What is a technical government?
END OF LIVE – If Thierry Beaudet’s appointment to Matignon were to be confirmed, France could well inherit a so-called “technical” government. As franceinfo analyses, embodied by senior civil servants and other specialists in specific themes, this government would ultimately have “little weight” and would make rather consensual decisions. “A technical government, with civil society, would run the risk of having a fragility vis-à-vis the legislative power. With strong personalities like Gabriel Attal, François Hollande or Marine Le Pen, good luck!” analyzed, earlier in the day, an Ensemble MP with franceinfo.
02/09/24 – 22:50 – Environmentalists demand an extraordinary session of Parliament
In the wake of the National Rally, the environmentalists have in turn asked to convene Parliament. Denouncing “an untenable political situation”, they believe in a press release that “Emmanuel Macron’s obsession with ensuring the continuity of a policy rejected by the French is leading to the blockage of an entire country”.
02/09/24 – 22:34 – Can we hope for the announcement of a new Prime Minister tomorrow?
That is the question. The latest rumors say that it could be at the beginning of this week “by Wednesday”, according to a close friend of Emmanuel Macron in Release. For now, it is not known whether the consultations will continue on Tuesday or whether Emmanuel Macron intends to make the long-awaited announcement tomorrow. “With him, we still don’t know what to expect. But at least now, we know how to wait,” jokes a close friend of the head of state to BFMTV.
02/09/24 – 22:12 – François Hollande at the origin of the leak of the Thierry Beaudet hypothesis?
This is one of the big news items to remember from the day: Thierry Beaudet is one of the hypotheses being studied by the Macron camp for Matignon. Information revealed by Opinion and which, according to Emmanuel Macron’s former Secretary of State, Marlène Schiappa, would have leaked to the press thanks to a certain… François Hollande. In any case, that’s what she assured this Monday evening on BFMTV.
02/09/24 – 21:40 – Thierry Beaudet, far from seducing the presidential camp?
Surprise of the day, the unknown to the general public would be far from unanimous within the presidential camp, BFMTV believes Monday evening. Described as having a “good profile”, “close to CFDT circles” and who “embodies civil society”, many are those who nevertheless underline a profile not political enough. “The situation has never been so complicated, and we would put a Prime Minister who has never done politics in his life? It’s crazy!” comments a centrist deputy, insisting: “He chairs the Cese, but the members of the Cese next to the deputies, they are Care Bears.” And a manager of Ensemble adds: “He has two main problems: he does not hold up in this Assembly and he does not bring any voice to the left.”
02/09/24 – 21:18 – Bernard Cazeneuve, still a serious option for Matignon?
If the surprise Thierry Beaudet made headlines in the press on Monday, Bernard Cazeneuve remains a very solid hypothesis in the presidential camp. “We must not minimize the importance of the meeting he had with the president. Bernard Cazeneuve is not a decoy!” assures a close friend of the head of state to BFMTV. While a senior member of the presidential majority camp tempers, still to the continuous news channel: “Bernard Cazeneuve, that suits everyone here, unless he repeals the pension reform. Then we would censor him.”
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How soon will the new government be appointed?
After the “political truce” respected during the Olympic Games, the President of the Republic had set the course of mid-August for the appointment of a new Prime Minister and then the future government. But more than a month and a half after the legislative elections and while the government of Gabriel Attal resigned on July 16, the date of the appointment of the Prime Minister has still not been set. It is however expected in the week of August 26, after Emmanuel Macron’s consultations with the various political forces, or “from Tuesday” August 27 as indicated by the Elysée. But in the absence of an agreement, new discussions are organized, before the long-awaited announcement. Emmanuel Macron has nevertheless informed interlocutors that he would like to appoint a Prime Minister before September 2.
Given the composition of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic has set himself the task of finding a Prime Minister capable of gathering “the broadest and most stable majority possible”, but achieving an absolute majority of 289 deputies is proving impossible, unless there is a surprise coalition. The same goes for the ministers that the latter will then have to propose. Otherwise, the new government as a whole would be exposed to a motion of censure which, if voted for by more than half of the elected representatives, would lead to the overthrow of the ministerial team. It would therefore be necessary to start all over again.
The problem is that Emmanuel Macron will have to accommodate all sensitivities, from the left of course, from the center naturally, but also from the right. If the NFP came out on top, the head of state has already ruled out governing with LFI deputies. But Jean-Luc Mélenchon paved the way for a left-wing government without LFI ministers and trapped Emmanuel Macron at his own game. The fact remains that the opposition from the presidential camp, the right and the far right are still speaking out against the NFP program, and not just the LFI elected officials. Finding personalities who suit the ecologists, socialists, communists, Macronists and republicans is not an easy task. Not to mention the programmatic points on which everyone will have to agree.
What could be the profile of the future Prime Minister?
Emmanuel Macron took advantage of a summer break from Fort Brégançon to give new clues about the profile of the new Prime Minister. Clear elements are now emerging for the person who will take over from Gabriel Attal. The head of government will have to be “a man or woman, consensual, who pleases both the left and the right”, we can read in the columns of Le Monde. According to the Elysée, this personality will also have to give off “a scent of cohabitation”. This is an important clue about the composition of the new government and its political color. Especially after Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to see the NFP candidate, Lucie Castets, at Matignon.
Xavier Bertrand is one of the main names circulating for Matignon. The LR president of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand, himself, is even supported by several figures from the center and the right. “He is a great republican among the Republicans and a great regional president” declared on this subject Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, resigning Secretary of State for the City, on July 30th. The resigning Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin spoke of him “a politician with very great competence”, he could “greatly serve France”, a day earlier. Concerning the main person concerned, there is no direct contact with the President of the Republic. Bertrand and Macron exchange, certainly, but through “emissaries” according to information from Le Parisien.
The President of the Republic is consulting at least on a second name for the post of Prime Minister, it is Bernard Cazeneuve. The former tenant of Matignon under François Hollande remains however much less publicized than Xavier Bertrand, and much more discreet about his new political aspirations. However, according to information from Le Parisien, the latter recently spoke with the Head of State “whom he had already seen discreetly at the Elysée in the spring (well before the dissolution). A profile that could quite satisfy the consensual dimension sought by Emmanuel Macron to replace Gabriel Attal.
On Sunday, August 4, the resigning Minister for Gender Equality, Aurore Bergé, also mentioned three names from the Republicans to fill the post of Prime Minister in place of Gabriel Attal. Unsurprisingly, Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Hauts-de-France region. Then Michel Barnier, former minister we told you about in this article on July 31st in the context of a possible technical Prime Minister. Finally, the name of Gérard Larcher, current President of the Senate was also mentioned by Aurore Bergé to join Matignon. The three “have solid experience of government, Parliament, and compromise”, believes the Macronist minister, from the right. Jean-Louis Borloo is also mentioned.