PARIS: France awaited the appointment of a new government to lead the country out of its political crisis, with President Emmanuel Macron expected to hold talks with his new prime minister on Sunday.
France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, appointed on December 13, is racing to name a new government by Christmas.
Macron, who earlier Sunday returned to Paris after a visit to cyclone-devastated Mayotte and East Africa, “definitely” planned to meet with Bayrou in the afternoon, said a source close to the French president.
News of Bayrou’s cabinet picks could come as early as Sunday.
The appointment of a new government was less likely to occur on Monday, when France will observe a national day of mourning for the victims of the disaster in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte, where at least 35 people were killed.
Bayrou, the 73-year-old head of the centrist MoDem group, which is allied to Macron’s party, pressed ahead with consultations over the weekend.
“We are making progress,” Marc Fesneau of the MoDem group said in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, confirming that the full makeup of the government should be presented “in one go” and “before Christmas”.
Bayrou’s most immediate priority is to make sure his government survives a no-confidence vote and passes a budget for next year.
He is hoping to bring in high-profile figures from the left, right and centre in a bid to protect his government from possible censure.
By contrast, the minority government of Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, had leaned on support from Macron’s centrist camp and his own conservative Les Republicains party, and the acquiescence of the far-right of Marine Le Pen.
But earlier this month the far right and left wing joined forces to eject Barnier from office, making his the shortest stint as prime minister in France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958.
Barnier was brought down over his failure to win support for a budget to shore up France’s shaky finances with spending cuts and tax rises to reduce the deficit.
The fate of top posts remained uncertain but former prime minister Elisabeth Borne and former interior minister Gerald Darmanin have been mentioned as possible members of Bayrou’s team.
Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, was expected to keep his job.
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