History seems to be repeating itself tirelessly in recent weeks. In the morning, a potential Prime Minister’s name is revealed in the press as the new “ideal profile” for Matignon. That same evening, we learn that his candidacy has now been torpedoed, or would no longer be suitable in the eyes of the Elysée or the rest of the political spectrum.
As we approach the two-month mark since the results of the legislative elections, and fifty days since the resignation of the Attal government, L’Express takes a look at the different profiles that have circulated for Matignon over the last few long weeks.
Bernard Cazeneuve – Xavier Bertrand, the two most cited
Their names have been circulating since July, but still seem to be the two most concrete leads today. On the left of the political spectrum, we find the Bernard Cazeneuve option. The former Prime Minister was received by Emmanuel Macron this Monday at the Elysée, after a weekend that seemed to send him straight to Matignon. A former socialist, also respected on the right, the one who left the PS in 2022 after the Nupes agreement with LFI could have been a personality who could snatch majorities, at least in the eyes of Emmanuel Macron. A large part of the New Popular Front has warned: if his possible government does not fit into their program, they will not hesitate to draw a motion of censure against him. Bernard Cazeneuve himself seems to have set clear lines to take the direction of the government, in particular a return to the pension reform, the red line of the head of state. Enough to largely stem the hypothesis, even if it was not yet completely buried on Tuesday.
On the other political side, on the right, the name of former Sarkozy minister Xavier Bertrand is also coming up insistently to take the head of the government. This Tuesday morning, The Parisian revealed that the Elysée had had a discussion with the heavyweights of LR – Laurent Wauquiez, Bruno Retailleau and Gérard Larcher – to find out if the Les Républicains party would support an appointment of the president of Hauts-de-France to Matignon, which the latter did not bury. But while the head of the PS, Olivier Faure, just like the RN, assured that their deputies would censure a possible Bertrand government, there too, the obstacles seem difficult to overcome.
On the left and on the right, other names are scattered
These nearly two months have given time for many names to emerge, some to disappear, others to remain pending. First of all, there was of course the hypothesis of Lucie Castets. The candidate of the New Popular Front had been received at the Elysée on the first day of Emmanuel Macron’s consultations. But the latter ultimately refused to appoint her to Matignon, assuring that the motion of censure against her was inevitable.
The hypothesis of a Prime Minister from the ranks of the “moderate” left, further removed from the New Popular Front, also seems to be one of the avenues prioritized by Emmanuel Macron. An idea that led to the socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, not stingy in his criticism of La France Insoumise and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. With a certain popularity rating after the Olympic Games, a business leader and a supporter of a firm line on security, he had finally clarified his position by assuring that Lucie Castets “must be appointed Prime Minister”. But the elected official still said he was ready to be a “compromise” Prime Minister if he were to be called upon. On a different note, Franceinfo revealed this Tuesday, September 3, that Laurent Berger, the former head of the CFDT, had also been surveyed for Matignon. A firm refusal addressed by the one who was one of the most fervent fighters for the 2023 pension reform.
On the right, other names have also been tested by Emmanuel Macron and the Elysée, without the discussions seeming to go much further. This is notably the case of Michel Barnier and Jean-Louis Borloo, two veterans of French political life, whose appointment to Matignon would be a big surprise today.
Less divisive profiles?
The hypothesis was very quickly raised as soon as the result of the second round of the legislative elections was announced: could a more technical profile, less divisive on the left and the right, be the only viable and sustainable choice to manage to govern in this so fractured National Assembly? In this sense, one name went further than all the others: Thierry Beaudet, the president of the Cese. This Monday, this unknown to the general public seemed to have become the number one option for Matignon. With several qualities pleading in his favor: a man from civil society, rather center-left to attract socialist votes, while having experience in negotiation and consensus. But the very next day, the Thierry Beaudet trial balloon seems to have deflated, with some refusing to see someone without any political experience to lead this very perilous mission.
Before him, other similar profiles had been tested by the head of state. The name of Eric Lombard, CEO of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, stirred up the Elysée, as revealed by L’Express. A former Rocardian and ministerial advisor to Michel Sapin, he was described as “compatible with Macronie and appreciated by the left”. Without going any further for the moment.
Bis repetita for Didier Migaud, president of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP). A socialist MP for nearly 22 years, former president of the Finance Committee in the Assembly, he had notably earned a form of respect on both the left and the right within the National Assembly for his determination to maintain public accounts. A skill that is far from anecdotal in the current political situation, where succeeding in getting a budget voted on by the end of the year is close to mission impossible.
Among the other profiles sprinkled in the press, we also find business leaders, such as the chairman of the board of Renault, Jean-Dominique Senard, or the CEO of Maïf, Pascal Demurger. We have also heard the name of the former chief economist of the IMF Olivier Blanchard, with a view to a very technical government in the Italian style, or that of the more than experienced president of the Court of Auditors Pierre Moscovici. Even if one of the scenarios still remains that none of these names mentioned is in reality Emmanuel Macron’s choice for Matignon.