PARIS (Reuters) -France’s new government is set to be named later on Monday evening, the presidency said in a statement, as centrist prime minister Francois Bayrou tries to find a team able to withstand challenges from both the far-right and far-left.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Macron’s chief of staff Alexis Kohler would unveil the names in the new government at 1730 GMT.
Bayrou has struggled for almost 10 days to put together a government as he looks to stave off a vote of no-confidence in mid-January and ensure parliament agrees on a budget for 2025 in February.
Bayrou initially sought to broaden his incoming administration to appeal to both the left-wing Socialist party and the conservative Les Republicains, hoping not to suffer the fate of his predecessor Michel Barnier, whose government collapsed after just three months amid opposition to his budget measures.
However, Bayrou has failed in particular to satisfy demands from the left in his quest to secure majority support in a deeply fractured parliament.
In a letter seen by Reuters addressed to Les Republicains, which won just 5% of votes in the summer parliamentary election, Bayrou set out security and budgetary measures in the hope of ensuring it joins the next government.
Bayrou is trying to cut a wide budget deficit but is finding consensus as hard to achieve as Barnier. An opinion poll published on Dec. 19 found 64% were dissatisfied with his appointment as prime minister.
After a European Parliament election last June in which the far-right Rassemblement National made significant gains, Macron called a snap parliamentary election that he promised would bring more clarity.
Instead, no party or bloc won a majority, leaving parliament divided into three main blocs, and Macron’s nominees for prime minister so far unable to muster the majority support that would enable them to survive an inevitable vote of no-confidence.
