Prime Minister LE PEN. Who will Marine Le Pen appoint as head of government if elected President of the Republic? The candidate keeps the secret on this point and her silence questions. Would it reflect the isolation or the lack of options of the contender for the Elysée?
Marine Le Pen President of the Republic, who would be her Prime Minister? The question is legitimate because if the far-right candidate remains credited with fewer voting intentions than Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2022 presidential election, her qualification still allows her to believe in victory. The election of Marine Le Pen, and of the National Rally, to the supreme office would be a historic first and would be accompanied by its share of novelties, including the appointment of far-right elected representatives to key government positions, including the office of Prime Minister.
The names of potential heads of government are used to leaking or else leads are mentioned and dug by activists and those close to the candidates, but Marine Le Pen does not intend to respect tradition. Asked at each appearance in the media about the identity of the one she would appoint as Prime Minister, the contender for the Elysee Palace does not breathe a word. “I know” who would occupy the function “but I will not tell you”, she indicated on the airwaves of France Inter April 12. “Nobody announces in advance who is going to be his Prime Minister, it has never happened, so it will not happen today,” she said on BFM TV the same day to justify his silence. She contented herself with specifying that the prospective candidate must be “a politician, a team leader, and above all he will be required to manage a team that will respect the consistency of the project that I have submitted to them, and which will have been validated, because that’s what matters.”
Who will be appointed Prime Minister of Marine Le Pen?
The personalities presented as the possible future members of government of Marine Le Pen can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Two names come up regularly: the former Republican Jean-Paul Garraud and the self-taught politician Hervé Juvin, but neither of them can be propelled to the head of government. The first, with his experience as a magistrate, would head the Ministry of Justice while the second would have the portfolio of Ecology. Remain among the possibilities: Jordan Bardella, young right-hand man of the candidate of the National Assembly and acting president of the political formation who would have “perfectly the qualities to become a minister” according to the words of Marine Le Pen in the Figaro early April and Franck Allisio on vice-president of the RN group at the regional council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and “almost better known than Édouard Philippe when he was appointed Prime Minister”. A short sentence that gives credence to the hypothesis. Other surnames such as that of the mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, that of Beaucaire Julien Sanchez, the deputy of the North Sébastien Chenu, deputy of the North, or the regional councilor of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Andréa Kotarac have been cited but none constitute a solid assumption.
Another argument that can eliminate these names from the possible options for the office of Prime Minister, in this short list composed exclusively of elected members of the National Rally, none dangles the “government of national unity” promised by Marine Le Pen.
Marine Le Pen isolated and without Prime Minister?
Within the campaign team of the National Rally candidate “no one will answer” questions about the identity of the Prime Minister as she assured on April 12 on France Inter. Wouldn’t this silence be an admission of the isolation of the candidate on the political scene? Because if this year she refuses to put forward names, five years ago she did not hesitate to present Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, unsuccessful candidate of the first round of the presidential election of 2017 who rallied Marine Le Pen, as her Prime minister. Between two elections, the contender for the presidency changed her strategy in many respects, including on the mystery surrounding her government.
To counter criticism and silence rumors about the few political forces gathered around her, Marine Le Pen insisted on being able to form three governments if necessary before going further on the radio: “I could even form four or five”. On the ground, it seems more difficult to convince and the one who advocates and promises a government made up of “people who will most certainly come from the right and most certainly from the left” finds herself doing her accounts with a handful of RN faithful. The catchphrase “from Zemmour to Montebourg” for a time brandished by the contender for the Elysée remained at the ideal stage since Marine Le Pen herself excluded the appointment of the polemicist and ex-presidential candidate Eric Zemmour as a member of the government then making him Prime Minister is unthinkable. As for the far left, the candidate has set her sights on Georges Kuzmanovic but the former international adviser to Jean-Luc Mélenchon refused the invitation explaining to the Sunday newspaper : “I’m not sure that she has the social fiber attached to the body”. In addition to the elected politicians in orbit around her, Marine Le Pen could draw her Prime Minister from the advisers of the Horaces club who have accompanied her since the failure of 2017.
Jean Castex, Prime Minister until the legislative elections?
If elected as President of the Republic, Marine Le Pen may have to govern with Jean Castex as Prime Minister for two months. The current tenant of Matignon indicated on April 19 on France Inter that his resignation would come quickly after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, but he implied that he would remain in office until the end in the event of a victory for the far right. In any case, the appointment of the Prime Minister must await the results of the legislative elections of June 12 and 19, 2022 and the recomposition of Parliament. Marine Le Pen will then, still on the condition of winning the second round of the presidential election, be able to appoint her Prime Minister. The rule is simple, the President of the Republic is free to choose the person of his choice to occupy the post of Prime Minister, particularly if he manages to bring together a majority of parliamentarians of his political color in the hemicycle, otherwise he must do his choice taking into account the majority in place.