PARIS — France’s Socialists emerged from high-level talks on Wednesday saying there was no agreement on a left-winger becoming the next prime minister, despite speculation that this could be French President Emmanuel Macron’s next move.
The head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, said his party had not received “assurances” from outgoing PM Sébastien Lecornu that Macron would agree to suspend his flagship pensions reforms during talks on finding a way out of the political crisis engulfing France.
“We received no assurances that the suspension [of the pensions reform] would be real,” Faure told reporters after the talks. Lecornu “simply took notes,” he added. The suspension of the deeply unpopular pensions reform, which raises the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62, is a key demand of the left.
The French president has given his outgoing prime minister until Wednesday night to try to find a compromise with opposition parties on the next budget and a way forward, after Lecornu resigned on Monday as his government was falling apart.
On Wednesday morning, Lecornu was upbeat about negotiations and said the need for snap elections in the coming weeks was receding. At a brief press conference, he said he had “good news” of a “desire to have a budget for France before December 31.”
Lecornu also said that he would present the possible solutions to the French president on Wednesday evening.
Speculation has been rife since Tuesday that Macron was considering appointing a left-wing prime minister, after his last three center-right prime ministers were toppled or pushed to resign in the past year.
On Tuesday evening, Macron’s former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne sparked surprise when she came out in support of suspending the pensions reforms that she herself had forced through parliament. The move was seen as a sign that the French president may be considering making a major concession to get the left on board, and avoid snap elections that would leave his party weakened in parliament.
But neither the conservative Les Républicains nor the center-right Horizons party are in favor of suspending the pensions reform, which would undermine budget talks even before they have begun.
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