France’s Macron says he will maintain centrist interim government during Olympics

PARIS (AP) — French president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that it will maintain the country’s centrist interim government until the end of the Olympic Games in mid-August to avoid “disorder”.

Her announcement in a television interview came shortly after the left-wing coalition that won the most votes in this month’s parliamentary elections selected little-known civil servant Lucie Castets as its choice for prime minister.

Macron said the current interim government “will take care of current affairs during the Olympics,” which run until August 11. “By mid-August we will not be in a position to be able to change things because that would cause disorder,” he said. he said.

There is no set timetable for when Macron is expected to name a new prime minister. The parliamentary elections left the National Assembly with no dominant political bloc in power for the first time in the modern French Republic.

Macron, who has a presidential term until 2027, has the final say on who will be named prime minister. However, the prime minister would need the support of a majority of lawmakers to avoid a vote of no confidence.

Castets, a senior civil servant, graduated from Sciences Po, the London School of Economics and the École Nationale d’Administration. She worked at the General Directorate of the Treasury and at Tracfin, Bercy’s anti-money laundering unit.

The New Popular Front described her as “a leader of associative struggles for the defense and promotion of public services, actively committed to the fight of ideas against reform at 64 (years old)”. They also highlighted her efforts to combat tax fraud and financial crime.

Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the Green Party, urged President Macron in the X to “recognize the result of the elections and name” her Matignon, short for the prime minister’s residence.

Sébastien Chenu, a member of the far-right National Rally, criticized the Castets’ choice, calling it “a bad joke.”

France is on the brink of government paralysis since elections for the National Assembly earlier this month resulted in a split between three major political groups: the New Popular Front, Macron’s centrist allies and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.