AFP, :
New French President Emmanuel Macron is set to name a prime minister and visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a busy first full day in office on Monday.
The 39-year-old centrist leader laid out his ambitious plans as he took power on Sunday, promising to restore France’s shattered self-confidence and help rebuild the flagging European Union.
The former investment banker said he wanted to convince people that France was “at the dawn of an extraordinary renaissance”.
His choice of prime minister will be crucial in building confidence, with the 46-year-old centre-right Edouard Philippe from the Republicans party seen as the favourite for the job.
Picking him would send a clear signal that Macron hopes to attract other young modernisers from the Republicans to his new centrist party, La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM), which will contest parliamentary elections in June.
Macron, who was economy minister in the outgoing Socialist government of ex-president Francois Hollande, has already attracted dozens of centre-left MPs to his movement as he reshapes French political life.
New French President Emmanuel Macron is set to name a prime minister and visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a busy first full day in office on Monday.
The 39-year-old centrist leader laid out his ambitious plans as he took power on Sunday, promising to restore France’s shattered self-confidence and help rebuild the flagging European Union.
The former investment banker said he wanted to convince people that France was “at the dawn of an extraordinary renaissance”.
His choice of prime minister will be crucial in building confidence, with the 46-year-old centre-right Edouard Philippe from the Republicans party seen as the favourite for the job.
Picking him would send a clear signal that Macron hopes to attract other young modernisers from the Republicans to his new centrist party, La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM), which will contest parliamentary elections in June.
Macron, who was economy minister in the outgoing Socialist government of ex-president Francois Hollande, has already attracted dozens of centre-left MPs to his movement as he reshapes French political life.
