French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks with former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a member of the Socialist Party, as part of consultations for the nomination of a new prime minister. Cazeneuve, who leans towards the moderate left, is being mentioned as a candidate for the new prime minister amid ongoing political turmoil in France following the early general elections.
According to Le Monde on the 1st (local time), President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to meet with former Prime Minister Cazeneuve from 9 a.m. on Monday, the 2nd. A close aide to President Macron confirmed that this is "part of consultations for the prime minister nomination." A representative from Cazeneuve’s side also stated that "Cazeneuve did not request this," but added, "If it happens, it would be to prevent further national turmoil." On the same day, President Macron is also scheduled to hold consecutive meetings with former President Fran?ois Hollande and former Republican President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Born in 1963, Cazeneuve served as prime minister during the Socialist government under President Fran?ois Hollande from 2016 to 2017. In 2022, he left the Socialist Party in protest against its alliance with the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI). He is also well known for his long-standing conflicts with LFI both inside and outside the political sphere. Le Monde introduced Cazeneuve as a figure who meets two essential conditions as prime minister: experience and confidence in his own opinions.
Since the formation of a ‘hung parliament’ in the early general elections in July, where no party secured an outright majority, political turmoil has continued with difficulties in appointing a new prime minister. President Macron has rejected the card of Lucie Castet, the current director of finance for the city of Paris and the prime minister candidate from the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP), which won the most seats in the lower house but did not achieve a majority. The NFP consists of four parties: the Socialist Party, the Green Party, the Communist Party, and the far-left LFI.
The NFP has strongly opposed this. Manuel Bonpart, a member of parliament representing LFI in the NFP coalition negotiations, said of Cazeneuve, who is being mentioned as the new candidate, "If he does not receive the support of the left-wing coalition parties in parliament, he cannot be considered a left-wing prime minister," warning that "if a candidate other than the NFP candidate is nominated without respecting the election results, the parliament may push for the president’s dismissal." He added, "If the president acknowledges the election results and forms a government to implement policies accordingly, there is the candidate proposed by the NFP, Lucie Castet," and argued, "It is clear that the president seeks to divide the NFP to maintain power even after losing the election. Cazeneuve is undoubtedly a tool for this destructive attempt."
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