In a significant announcement, French President Emmanuel Macron indicated on Tuesday that he plans to appoint a new government in mid-August, after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics.
He emphasized that this timing is to avoid plunging France into chaos. Macron also firmly ruled out resigning from his position before the end of his current term, according to a report by Reuters.
This declaration follows closely on the heels of an unexpected victory by the New People’s Front (NFP), a leftist coalition, in recent snap parliamentary elections. The NFP has nominated Lucie Castets, a senior government official with a background in combatting tax evasion and financial crime, as their candidate for Prime Minister.
In his first interview since the second round of elections in early July, Macron acknowledged the defeat of his centrist bloc but refrained from commenting on the NFP’s nomination for the premiership. French television network BFM TV reported that discussions among the leftist bloc’s parties about the prime ministerial candidate lasted 15 days.
Macron stated that the current caretaker government would handle ongoing affairs during the Olympics, which are scheduled to run until August 11. He added, “We are not in a position to make changes before mid-August, as it would cause disorder.”
The Associated Press noted that while there is no specific deadline for Macron to appoint a new Prime Minister, the decision rests solely with him. The new head of government will need the support of a majority of lawmakers to avoid a no-confidence vote. Macron has made it clear that he will appoint only a candidate backed by a “stable and necessarily plural” coalition.
Lucie Castets, an alumna of Sciences Po and the London School of Economics, has a distinguished career, having served at the Directorate General of the Ministry of Finance before moving to Tracfin, an agency dedicated to intelligence on money laundering and terrorism financing. Despite her impressive credentials, Castets remains relatively unknown to the general public. The NFP has described her as a “leader of united struggles for the defense and promotion of public services.”
In a statement to AFP, Castets expressed her honor at the NFP’s proposal and stated that, if appointed, she would strive to reverse Macron’s pension reform, which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The parliamentary elections in France took place at the end of June and the beginning of July, resulting in a victory for the NFP, a coalition of socialists, greens, communists, the far-left Unsubmissive France, and other smaller left-wing entities. Macron’s centrists came in second, followed by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in third place.
