Macron appears set to name new PM within days to avert snap election

2 hours ago 2

London: French President Emmanuel Macron could appoint a new prime minister within days in a bid to break a deadlock in parliament over the national budget, amid hopes for an agreement to avoid forcing the nation to an election.

Former prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, who stunned the nation by quitting on Monday morning, claimed progress in his negotiations with parliament to avert an election, after he was given 48 hours to seek a deal before his departure.

French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Wednesday.

Lecornu said on Wednesday night – 5:30am on Thursday, AEDT – that Macron could be in a position to nominate a new prime minister within 48 hours and that the prospect of a snap parliamentary election was receding.

“I told the president of the republic that the prospects of dissolution were receding and that I believe the situation allows for the president to name a prime minister in the next 48 hours,” he told French television in a closely watched interview.

The moves appear unlikely to satisfy the right-wing National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, as it declares it will oppose any budget deal from Macron or his allies.

“I’ll censure everything. Enough now – the joke has gone on long enough,” Le Pen told the media earlier on Wednesday, making it clear she wanted parliament to be dissolved so the French people could settle the crisis at the ballot box.

Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks at the Hotel Matignon, the prime minister’s residence, on Wednesday.

Macron has not taken questions from the media since Lecornu announced his resignation on Monday morning, but he appears set on finding a new prime minister to lead the government in a negotiation with parliament.

While his critics are demanding Macron resign or hold a parliamentary election, the third option is to select a new prime minister who could build a majority in parliament for the national budget.

“There is a willingness to have a budget for France before December 31 of this year,” Lecornu told reporters earlier on Wednesday, after talks with conservatives and centre-right parties and before meeting the parties on the left.

“And this willingness creates momentum and convergence, obviously, which reduces the prospects of dissolution.”

With the National Rally taking a hard line against Macron in the hope of toppling him at the next presidential election – due in 2027 – the president and his allies appear likely to turn to the parties on the left to form a new government that can hold support in parliament.

Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure has offered to resolve the crisis in parliament, but declared that the left should run the next government.

The Socialists want a 2 per cent wealth tax on France’s richest 0.01 per cent, a measure that appears to have strong public support but would force Macron to accept a policy that is deeply opposed by the conservatives.

The National Rally and its allied parties hold 138 seats in the National Assembly, making them the largest bloc, while the Ensemble coalition – loyal to Macron – has only 91 seats. France Unbowed holds 71 seats and the Socialists hold 66, while the Greens have 38.

French Greens leader Marine Tondelier talks to reporters on Wednesday.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier said there was progress in her talks with Lecornu on Wednesday and that the country had “never been closer” to having a new left-wing prime minister.

“Appointing yet again a prime minister from the president’s camp would be a final provocation, they wouldn’t last a minute,” she told reporters.

Lecornu has spent the past three weeks trying to negotiate new policies and a new cabinet that could survive the deadlock in parliament, but the cabinet he named on Sunday included most of the ministers in the previous government, outraging his critics.

One of his first moves as prime minister was to scrap an unpopular attempt by his predecessor, François Bayrou, to abolish two public holidays in a proposal to lift productivity and cut government costs. With this dropped, Lecornu sought to negotiate the passage of a budget that could bring welfare spending under control.

Another dispute is about whether to scale back the cost of the pension after the government raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 two years ago – still a source of criticism from those who will have to wait longer to receive government benefits.

The French economy has slowed over the past four years, and government spending has increased, putting federal debt on track to reach nearly 120 per cent of GDP next year, according to the OECD.

There is no consensus on how to bring the budget under control and the divisions in parliament reflect the rift in French society over cuts to government spending or increases in taxation.

Macron called a snap parliamentary election in June last year in the hope of turning political momentum against National Rally after it gained support in elections for the European Parliament.

The tactic failed, however, when National Rally performed well and the parliamentary election resulted in a national assembly that was even more divided.

With Reuters

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