Speculation is rife that the French president could reappoint Lecornu to lead a technocratic government.
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron invited party leaders to last-minute talks on Friday at the Elysée Palace with speculation rife that he’ll reappoint outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to his old job.
An individual close to the president, who like others quoted in this piece was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the Elysée has started working on the Lecornu option and is trying to see what commitments are necessary to ensure he’s not quickly taken down.
“Not certain it’ll be enough,” the individual said.
All the parties represented in the National Assembly except the far-right National Rally and the far-left France Unbowed received an invitation to attend talks at 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to reports in local media.
It’s unclear if Macron will share with them his plans for Lecornu, whose resignation Monday just 14 hours after unveiling his new government set off a political crisis. The president’s office previously said a new PM would be named by the end of Friday.
Macron had asked Lecornu to stay on after accepting his resignation and try to find a way out of the deadlock by Wednesday evening.
“He has managed to get [parties] to shift positions on a lot of topics,” said a Lecornu supporter.
The currently outgoing, perhaps future PM said in a primetime interview Wednesday that negotiations with opposition parties were going in the right direction. But Lecornu also said “my mission is over” on Wednesday and tamped down speculation he would continue.
The next prime minister, if it’s not Lecornu, will be France’s fourth in less than a year and will face the arduous task of having to negotiate and pass a budget through a deeply fractured and hostile parliament.
Reappointing Lecornu would be seen as a provocation by opposition parties who have been calling all week for a change in political direction.
Gabriel Attal, who leads Macron’s party Renaissance, said in an interview Friday with broadcaster France 2 he would attend the meeting but warned that the French president must start sharing power and “not give the impression that he wants to control everything.”
“For the past year, we’ve appointed prime ministers who are seen as being very close to the president of the Republic, it doesn’t make conversations with opposition parties any easier,” said Attal on Friday.
Lecornu has given no indication as to who the next prime minister could be despite leading talks with opposition parties all week. He has however said a draft budget could be ready in time to be presented to a new government on Monday.
Sarah Paillou and Anthony Lattier contributed reporting.