Focus moves to legislative elections
Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce a new prime minister in the coming days as he turns his focus to legislative elections in June after his defeat of Marine Le Pen in the presidential runoff on Sunday.
The prime minister, Jean Castex, has said he will resign along with the government, allowing Macron to choose a fresh face and team for his second five-year term in office.
Analysts suggest Macron may name Élisabeth Borne, the minister for work, as prime minister, only the second woman in France to hold the post.
Others being touted for the Hôtel de Matignon – Paris’s equivalent of No 10 – include the finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, the interior minister Gérald Darmanin, or the agriculture minister, Julien Denormandie.
Even before it was announced that Macron had been re-elected president on Sunday, attention had turned to the next electoral cycle. He will need his party, La République en Marche!, and its allies to achieve a majority to avoid the formation of a hostile government that could paralyse his programme.
The task of appointing a new prime minister and cabinet is made particularly tricky as Macron will be looking to appeal to radical-left voters who backed Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the first round of the presidential election while avoiding alienating supporters of Le Pen.
Macron is facing demands to show he is president of “all the French” after winning 58.54% – compared with Le Pen’s 41.46% – of the vote in Sunday’s second-round vote.
His victory will be officially confirmed by the country’s Constitutional Council on Wednesday. Castex could have been asked to stay on as prime minister, but told French radio earlier this month that France would be looking for a “new driving force” if Macron won.—The Guardian
