After the thrill of the Paris Olympics and a relaxing Mediterranean getaway, French President Emmanuel Macron now faces the daunting task of restoring stability and effective governance to his country. Macron on Friday started crucial discussions with key political figures to select a Prime Minister who can form a government and break the political impasse resulting from the recent snap elections.
The left-wing New Popular Front coalition, that won most seats had put forward Lucie Castets as their PM nominee. Castets said she was ready to govern and ready for compromise to get things done.
In the snap elections that held last month, Macron's centrist alliance came in second and the far-right National Rally came in third. Faced with a hung parliament, finding a PM is challenging for Macron.
Centrists and conservatives are also meeting with Macron on Friday. Meanwhile, National Rally leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are expected to join on Monday.
According to Macron’s office, the PM will be named based on these consultations, which are aimed at moving towards the broadest and most stable majority possible.
As president, Macron has sole power to name the PM according to the French Constitution.
Who is Lucie Castets?
Lucie Castets is a high-ranking French civil servant and economist. Castets served as the city of Paris' Chief Financial Officer since last October.
She began her career as a civil service official in 2007. Castets was an assistant to the cultural attache at the Consulate-General of France in Shanghai. In 2014, she was working at the Direction generale du Tresor within the Ministry of Economics and Finance and then became the government commissioner to the Bureau central de tarification.
Castets, 37, was a member of the Socialist Party between 2008 and 2011 when she was a supporter of Martine Aubry and the Union of the Left.
She was in the front of activism, leading a collective of civil servants advocating for public services.
Other likely PM candidates include
Centre-left politician Bernard Cazeneuve: Cazeneuve served as prime minister at the end of François Hollande’s presidency, from December 2016 to May 2017. He also served as France's top cop during a series of bloody terror attacks in 2015.
Experts opine that there is a possibility to appoint a PM from the left but outside NFP. Cazeneuve left the Socialist Party in 2022 in opposition to an alliance struck with France Unbowed, which holds the most seats of any leftist party.
Xavier Bertrand: A former health and labour minister under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, Bertrand has been the head of the northern region of Hauts-de-France since 2016. He has successfully pushed back against a far-right surge there, despite its transformation into a stronghold for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in recent years.
Conservative politician Michel Barnier: EU's chief negotiator for post-Brexit talks is also considered a potential candidate. Barnier is a former French politician and former European Union politician. Barnier has served in several French cabinet positions, including as Minister of the Environment, Minister of State for European Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries from 2007 to 2009.
