The National Times - Macron prepares to name new French PM

Macron had promised to name a replacement government chief within 48 hours of meeting party leaders on Tuesday, participants said.

On Thursday, he left France on a day-long trip to key EU and NATO ally Poland but shortened the visit, an aide said, heightening expectations of an announcement later in the day. He was due back in Paris from around 1830 GMT.

Despite the reported 48-hour promise, Macron has been notorious for taking his time over such decisions and it was far from certain the announcement would not drag into Friday or even the weekend.

Whoever is named will be the sixth prime minister of Macron's mandate after last week's toppling of Michel Barnier, who lasted only three months. Every premier under Macron has served successively less time in office.

Macron remains confronted with the complex political equation that emerged from July's snap parliamentary poll: how to secure a government against a no-confidence vote in a bitterly divided lower house where no party or alliance has a majority.

Greens leader Marine Tondelier urged Macron to "get out of his comfort zone" as he casts around for a name.

"The French public want a bit of enthusiasm, momentum, fresh wind, something new," she told France 2 television.

- 'Look to the future' -

At issue in the search for a new prime minister are both policies and personalities.

Mainstream parties invited by Macron on Tuesday, ranging from the conservative Republicans to Socialists, Greens and Communists on the left, disagree deeply.

One totemic issue is whether to maintain Macron's much-criticised 2023 pensions reform, seen by centrists and the right as necessary to balance the budget but blasted by the left as unjust.

Macron's rumoured top pick, veteran centrist Francois Bayrou, raises 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.

"It's jammed" as Macron looks for a deal with Socialists and Greens to avoid a new no-confidence vote, a person close to the president told AFP, adding that a pact could be "a vain hope".

Another senior figure in Macron's camp said informal talks with the two parties on Wednesday had not been conclusive.

Beyond Bayrou, prime ministerial contenders include former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, current Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu, a Macron loyalist, and former foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

Another name being discussed in the media is Roland Lescure, a former industry minister.

These "are names that have been around for years and haven't seduced the French. It's the past. I want us to look to the future," Greens boss Tondelier said.

- Far right 'not unhappy' -

Amidst the suspense, the parties shut out of Tuesday's talks have attacked those involved as weak.

The Socialists' openness to cooperation has been denounced by Jean-Luc Melenchon, figurehead of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) -- the other key force in the broad New Popular Front (NFP) left alliance.

"No coalition deals! No deal not to vote no confidence! Return to reason and come home!" Melenchon urged on Tuesday.

Polls indicate the public is fed up with the crisis. Just over two-thirds of respondents to one Elabe poll published on Wednesday said they want politicians to reach a deal not to overthrow a new government.

But confidence is limited, with around the same number saying they did not believe the political class could reach agreement.

In a separate IFOP poll, far-right National Rally (RN) figurehead Marine Le Pen was credited with 35 percent support in the first round of a future presidential election -- well ahead of any likely opponent.

She has said she is "not unhappy" that her far-right party was left out of the horse-trading around the government, appearing for now to benefit from the chaos rather than suffer blame for bringing last week's no-confidence vote over the line.

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R.Hawkins--TNT