No end in sight in Macron's search for new PM

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00The long-running saga in search of a French Prime Minister appears to have no end.

00:04Fifty days after the outgoing government resigned,

00:07nobody seems to have yet earned Emmanuel Macron's approval to fill the hot seat.

00:11Among the candidates mooted in recent weeks, former Prime Minister Bernard

00:15Cazeneuve on the centre-left and Xavier Bertrand on the centre-right.

00:19Both now appear to have been cast aside,

00:22as each looks likely to face a vote of censure in a fractured National Assembly.

00:26Cazeneuve is considered too left-wing by Macron's party,

00:29while Bertrand is facing growing opposition on the left.

00:32So it's back to square one.

00:34On Wednesday, two new names emerged, David Lysnard, Mayor of Cannes,

00:39like Bertrand, a member of Les Républicains,

00:41and Michel Barnier, former European Commissioner and EU Brexit negotiator.

00:46A former foreign minister under Jacques Chirac,

00:48Barnier could be seen as a less divisive personality for the left as well as the right.

00:53But regardless of whom the president chooses, he needs to make a decision fast.

00:58It is very difficult for Emmanuel Macron to recognise this new political situation.

01:05He wants to be the big chief, but he's no more the big chief.

01:13He needs to make a compromise with the political force in the parliament.

01:20A pressing need, but the president is still no closer to a decision.

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