France’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday announced he would run in the 2027 presidential elections in a widely expected move. This comes amid an unprecedented political crisis with President Emmanuel Macron under pressure to name a new head of government.
Macron has been struggling to find a prime minister since losing a gamble to bolster his centrist party's relative majority with early elections in July.
The defeat opened an unprecedented political deadlock, with a left-wing alliance now the National Assembly's largest block in a hung parliament, followed by Macron's centrists and their allies, and the far right.
As talks continue to end the impasse, Philippe confirmed his widely expected candidacy to succeed Macron, who cannot stand again in 2027 after a two-term limit.
His announcement complicates the calculus for Macron as he seeks a prime minister who could survive any no-confidence votes in the deeply fractured parliament.
Massive proposals
"I'm preparing to propose things to the French. What I propose will be massive. The French will decide," Philippe told Le Point magazine.
He reiterated the issues he would prioritise, such as education, public order and the budget.
Philippe is especially critical of the management of the outgoing government and its objectives of stabilising the deficit at three percent in 2027 which he says "no one believes".
But his decision to announce his candidacy now has not been appreciated across the political sphere.
President of the Macronist group in the Senate, François Patriat says the timing is inappropriate, given the unprecedented political deadlock.
“We are experiencing an unprecedented moment, difficult for everyone," he told LCI television on Wednesday.
"Demonstrating individualism, while the urgency, is to find stability, does not seem really appropriate today," he said.
Urgency for reforms
Marylise Léon, secretary general of the CFDT union says its a form political manoeuvring which doesn't take into account the priorities of French people today.
"Is not helpful in understanding what is happening and it does not meet the expectations of workers," she told Franceino on Wednesday.
"[Their] issues are not in 2027, they are right here, right now. It is more urgent than ever to already have a prime minister to lead reforms and meet social expectations."
Philippe, a right-winger who was Macron's first prime minister after his 2017 election upended France's political landscape, has remained a popular figure since resigning in July 2020.
Since then he returned to his job as Mayor of Le Havre and has formed his own party, Horizons, that has largely supported Macron's government despite reports that relations between the two men have soured.
Negotiations
"It's often said that in a presidential election, you have to want nothing else. I agree," Philippe said in the interview, saying he was ready even if Macron were to surprise the country again by announcing his resignation which would prompt an early presidential vote.
The President, meanwhile, is trying to revive negotiations over a new government for France, with the leftist alliance refusing to take part after he rejected its candidate for prime minister.
Macron said Tuesday that he was meeting "anyone who wants to come and work for the overriding national interest" after several rounds of talks over the weekend and Monday failed to produce a breakthrough.
Philippe for his part said he would support "any prime minister picked from a political space ranging from the conservative right to social-democracy".
(with AFP)
