BBC Online :
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has been named as prime minister, replacing Manuel Valls, who resigned in order to make a bid for the presidency next year. Mr Valls presented his resignation to
President Francois Hollande on Tuesday. Mr Cazeneuve will be in charge of the Socialist government until June’s parliamentary elections. He has played a key role in managing France’s security since the jihadist terror attacks in Paris last year. Mr Valls will face other contenders in the Socialist primary next month. Last week, in a move that surprised many, President Hollande announced that he would not seek a second term. He is the first president since France’s Fifth Republic was created in 1958 not to seek a second mandate. But he has haemorrhaged support amid stubbornly high unemployment and anxiety about Islamist terror. If successful, Mr Valls will face Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election in April.
Current polling suggests that Ms Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN), could come in the top two in the first round, but would be likely to lose to the centre-right Mr Fillon in the second. Mr Valls is not guaranteed to win the Socialist primary, which will involve at least seven other candidates. They will include former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who is further to the left. Mr Valls is seen as a divisive figure on the left, after forcing labour reforms through parliament and endorsing controversial bans last summer on the Islamic “burkini” swimsuit.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has been named as prime minister, replacing Manuel Valls, who resigned in order to make a bid for the presidency next year. Mr Valls presented his resignation to
President Francois Hollande on Tuesday. Mr Cazeneuve will be in charge of the Socialist government until June’s parliamentary elections. He has played a key role in managing France’s security since the jihadist terror attacks in Paris last year. Mr Valls will face other contenders in the Socialist primary next month. Last week, in a move that surprised many, President Hollande announced that he would not seek a second term. He is the first president since France’s Fifth Republic was created in 1958 not to seek a second mandate. But he has haemorrhaged support amid stubbornly high unemployment and anxiety about Islamist terror. If successful, Mr Valls will face Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election in April.
Current polling suggests that Ms Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN), could come in the top two in the first round, but would be likely to lose to the centre-right Mr Fillon in the second. Mr Valls is not guaranteed to win the Socialist primary, which will involve at least seven other candidates. They will include former economy minister Arnaud Montebourg, who is further to the left. Mr Valls is seen as a divisive figure on the left, after forcing labour reforms through parliament and endorsing controversial bans last summer on the Islamic “burkini” swimsuit.
