The Popular Front proposes a 37-year-old economist for prime minister of France. Macron refuses: Until mid-August...

2024-07-23 22:53:35Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Macron and Lucie Castets

France's left-wing alliance, the French Popular Front (NFP), has nominated Lucie Castets, 37, as its candidate for prime minister.

This was announced by the parties in a joint press statement issued on Tuesday evening, July 23.

Castets is a high-ranking Paris municipal official, but an unknown figure to the general public.

She is an economist graduated from the Ecole Nationale d'Administration school for senior civil servants.

The four parties in the alliance – LFI, Radical Left, Socialists, Greens and Communists – had been debating the name of a candidate for more than 2 weeks.

In the joint statement, they said that Castets is a "leader of the accompanying battles for the protection and promotion of public services (...) with a background in the "fight against fiscal evasion and financial crime."

They noted that she was actively engaged in the idea against setting the retirement age at 64," referring to an issue that led to widespread protests in France in 2023. The parties affirmed their "full commitment to the side of her in the government that she will lead".

But President Emmanuel Macron said tonight that the resigned government would remain in power at least "until mid-August."

"We have to focus on the Olympic Games until mid-August. Then it will be my responsibility to appoint a prime minister," Macron said.

"We are not able to change things because we would create disorder," he said during a television interview, recalling the "political truce" he had already mentioned.

The President of the French Republic was questioned about the choice of the New Popular Front to propose the name of Lucie Castets as the next prime minister, during his television appearance on "prime time".

"This is not the topic", the French head of state rejected the question. "The subject is not a name given by a political party," he added, considering that "it would be wrong to say that the New Popular Front has a majority of any kind."

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