Emmanuel Macron begins his consultations tomorrow with the heads of parties and parliamentary groups. This Thursday, the left begins its political return with Lucie Castets, NFP candidate for Matignon, in the front line.
The essentials
- The Élysée Palace is calling together the leaders of parliamentary groups and parties this Friday for a series of discussions aimed at “continuing to move towards the constitution of the broadest and most stable majority possible”. Emmanuel Macron will also meet Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella and Eric Ciotti on Monday, August 26. The appointment of the new Prime Minister could therefore wait until next week.
- The left is making its political comeback with the “summer universities”. It starts with the Ecologists and the Insoumis this Thursday, August 22, then the communists the next day. The socialist party will wait until August 29. Lucie Castets should speak at her various events.
- La France Insoumise has called for Emmanuel Macron to be dismissed if he does not appoint Lucie Castets to Matignon, a candidate proposed by the New Popular Front but whose candidacy had been rejected by the president several weeks ago. This announcement by LFI is not supported by its allies who have distanced themselves from it.
- Other names are circulating for the post of Prime Minister, such as Bernard Cazeneuve or Xavier Bertrand. Those of Jean-Louis Borloo and Michel Barnier have also been mentioned. A new name emerged this week, that of Karim Bouamrane, socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen.
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08:35 – Lucie Castets on stage
The left is starting its political return with the summer universities and Lucie Castets, NFP candidate for Matignon, does not intend to miss out. This Thursday she will be alongside the Ecologists and Marine Tondelier in Tours, Friday she will join Fabien Roussel and the communists in Montpellier and Saturday near Valence, she will speak to Manuel Bompard and the Insoumis. A week that is important to say the least since she is also invited to the series of exchanges organized by Emmanuel Macron on Friday. This tour of France will end the following weekend in Blois with the socialists.
08/21/24 – 11:19 p.m. – An agreement between Emmanuel Macron and the right “would be a betrayal”, according to Cyrielle Chatelain, EELV MP
In the event of an agreement between Emmanuel Macron and the right, “the president would pursue a policy at the discretion of the National Rally. This would be a betrayal of the voters, given that Macronist MPs were re-elected thanks to the Republican withdrawal,” asserts Cyrielle Chatelain, an environmentalist MP, in the columns of Le Figaro.
08/21/24 – 10:08 p.m. – Macronists “ready for compromises”, according to MP Jean-René Cazeneuve
The Macronists would be “ready to compromise” with the socialists to “allow a coalition” in the Assembly, according to the deputy of the presidential camp Jean-René Cazeneuve, who calls for “finding common ground” to “avoid censorship”.
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How soon will the new government be appointed?
Emmanuel Macron held a “political truce” for the duration of the Olympic Games, while Gabriel Attal’s government resigned on July 16. The President of the Republic had estimated that no new government would be appointed before “mid-August”, preferring “stability” for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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 support of at least 289 deputies, in order to ensure stability. The same applies to 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 the LFI deputies. So out goes these sixty elected officials, who could be compensated by the sixty LR who should once again join the Palais Bourbon. Finding personalities who suit the ecologists, socialists, communists, macronists and republicans will not be easy. Not to mention the programmatic points on which everyone will have to agree. The negotiations are still expected to be long and complex. Suffice to say that Gabriel Attal should make extra…
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, a former minister we talked about in this article on July 31 as part 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 in government, Parliament, and compromise,” believes the Macronist minister, from the right. Jean-Louis Borloo is also mentioned.