Suspense mounted on Friday over Emmanuel Macron's pick for prime minister, with the president racing to name a new head of government to break political deadlock.
Caretaker premier Michel Barnier, 73, was expected to hand over power to his successor at a ceremony late Friday morning, ministerial sources told AFP, even though the name of the new prime minister was not yet known.
Ahead of the ceremony a red carpet was rolled out and microphones installed in the courtyard of the Matignon, the seat of the French government in central Paris.
Macron received centrist leader Francois Bayrou, 73, for nearly two hours of talks Friday but as of 1100 GMT the Elysee made no announcement contrary to expectations.
BFMTV said the talks with Bayrou, tipped as a leading candidate previously, had been "tense".
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, a 38-year-old Macron loyalist and staunch defender of Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion, is also believed to be among top contenders.
Whoever is named will be the sixth prime minister of Macron's presidency after the toppling of Barnier, who lasted only three months, and will face the daunting task of hauling France out of months of political crisis.
Macron has been confronted with the complex political equation that emerged from snap parliamentary elections this summer -- how to secure a government against a no-confidence vote in a bitterly divided lower house where no party or alliance has a majority.
The new prime minister will face an immediate challenge in thrashing out a budget for next year in a bid to limit political and economic turmoil.
There had been expectations Macron would announce Barnier's successor in an address to the nation last week, after the hard left and far right joined forces to topple the premier's government following a standoff over an austerity budget.
But in a sign of the stalemate, Macron did not name Barnier's successor then and missed a 48-hour deadline he gave at a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday.
On Thursday, an aide to Macron said that the statement naming the prime minister would be published Friday morning.
"He is finishing his consultations," the aide added, without giving further details.
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), which was put together to prevent the far right from coming to power, emerged as the largest bloc in the National Assembly after the summer elections.
Bosses of the NFP alliance that includes the Socialists, Communists and Greens, have demanded that Macron appoint a prime minister from their ranks.
The talks to choose Barnier's successor have been tough.
"They are stuck," a person close to Macron -- asking not to be named -- said earlier this week, adding that "each name gets blocked".
Bayrou's candidacy has raised hackles on the left -- wary of continuing the president's policies -- and on the right, where he is disliked by influential former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Beyond Lecornu and Bayrou, prime ministerial contenders included former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve and former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Le Drian said on Thursday he had declined the job.
"I turned it down", he told Le Penthievre, a regional weekly. "In two and a half years, I'll be 80, it wouldn't be serious."
Opinion polls indicate the public is fed up with the crisis, with just over two-thirds of respondents to an Elabe poll published on Wednesday saying they want politicians to reach a deal not to overthrow a new government.
Each prime minister under Macron has served successively less time in office and there is no guarantee the new premier will not follow this pattern.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who emerged as kingmaker after the summer elections and helped topple down the government, has not been part of the most recent talks.
In an IFOP poll, Le Pen was credited with 35 percent support in the first round of a future presidential election, well ahead of any likely opponent.
In a critical moment, Le Pen on March 31, 2025 faces the verdict in an embezzlement trial on charges she denies. If convicted, she could lose the chance of standing in the 2027 elections and with it her best chance yet of winning the Elysee Palace.
