Emmanuel Macron will hold talks on Monday with François Hollande’s former prime minister on Monday in a possible breakthrough to finally form a government.
Bernard Cazeneuve has been touted as a possible compromise candidate after demands from the hard-Left to appoint its candidate to the position of prime minister was rebuffed by Mr Macron.
If tapped to replace outgoing Gabriel Attal, Mr Cazeneuve would reprise the role he played under the Socialist government of Mr Hollande for a brief five-month stint between 2016-17.
“Bernard Cazeneuve is not asking for it, but if he does so, it is out of duty and to avoid additional difficulties for the country,” an unnamed member of Mr Cazeneuve’s team told Le Monde.
In 2022, Mr Cazeneuve quit the Socialist Party in protest at the group’s alliance with the far-Left party France Unbowed (LFI), part of the Leftist bloc dubbed Nupes (New Ecological and Social People’s Union), ahead of the legislative elections that same year.
Today, a similar Leftist coalition includes the Greens, France Unbowed, the Socialists, and the Communists operates under the name New Popular Front (NFP). Mr Cazeneuve’s former boss, Mr Hollande, is also part of the new Leftist bloc.
‘Zombie’ government
In 2023, Mr Cazeneuve created a new political party he named La Convention, which failed to gather momentum or gain support from senior Leftist lawmakers.
France enters its ninth week of being led by a so-called “zombie” government after Mr Macron called a snap election in June that delivered a hung parliament and dealt a major blow to his own centrist coalition.
While the NFP won the most seats, it fell short of an absolute majority.
Earlier this week, Mr Macron rejected Lucie Castets, its candidate for prime minister, saying both she and the party’s costly programme would be unable to create consensus in the National Assembly and be quickly struck down by the opposition.
In recent days, the Elysée Palace has been pushing Mr Cazeneuve’s name and arguing he is likely to be one of the only political figures not immediately dismissed in a vote of no confidence.
However, the prospect of reinstating Mr Cazeneuve as prime minister has divided opinions, with former Socialist colleagues such as Anne Hidalgo, Paris mayor, expressing support, and others doubling down on threats to submit motions of no confidence for his nomination.
“With him, we would have real cohabitation, and that is what is needed, unless we want to ignore the French vote,” Ms Hidalgo told regional paper Ouest-France.
She added: “He will be able to bring together political leaders from sides other than his own, notably from the Republican Right, the centre or ecology, around priority issues that are useful to the French.”
‘Return to the old world’
But Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialists, refused to support anyone other than Ms Castets, while Manuel Bompard, LFI coordinator, said his party would submit a motion of no confidence if he is named.
Eric Ciotti, Republican leader, also denounced the possible appointment of Mr Cazeneuve, saying it would become a “return to the old world.”
“The country is waiting to be governed from the Right,” he added.
Mr Macron will also meet with former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Mr Hollande on Monday as part of his consultations before naming a prime minister.