Europe

Home page

Europe

Macron aims to name prime minister 'within 48 hours'

12 December 2024 04:19 (UTC +04:00)

French President Emmanuel Macron aims to name a new prime minister for France "within 48 hours," sources close to him Tuesday, December 10, told Agence France-Presse. The president invited leaders from across the political spectrum, leaving out the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) and hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI) who led the ousting of Prime Minister Michel Barnier last week.

Macron's initiative came as caretaker ministers scrambled to clarify France's 2025 finances, after the last administration fell over its cost-cutting budget.

Barnier had been supported by the conservative Les Républicains (LR) and Macron's centrist camp. But the alliance was far short of an Assemblée Nationale majority and was brought down by the united left, including LFI, and Marine Le Pen's RN.

One of the president's advisers said that at Tuesday's meeting Macron had noted "a unanimity among political forces to not depend on the RN." Greens leader Marine Tondelier said as she left the meeting that the presidential camp was not ready for any "compromise or concession," but that the president has stressed the need "to no longer rely on the RN to govern."

Addressing participants, Macron said he was "determined" not to call early elections again "within a 30-month period" – meaning, until the end of his term in 2027. The statement should be understood as "a desire (...) not a commitment," according to a source close to the president.