Standing firm against Sébastien Lecornu, the Socialist Party does not immediately announce censure

At the Socialist Party (PS) headquarters on the Grands Boulevards in Paris, it was 7:30 p.m. when Olivier Faure's phone rang on Tuesday, September 9. The first secretary, whose name has been circulating for a week for Matignon, had been in the middle of the national office, the movement's executive branch, for an hour. Seeing the number displayed, the Seine-et-Marne MP picked up. Emmanuel Macron called him to end the suspense.

On the other end of the line, the head of state announces that he has not chosen him as head of government, despite the offer of services made a few days earlier. The new elected official is the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu . The appointment will be confirmed before 8 p.m. The president justifies his decision: the "common base," which includes Renaissance – the presidential party –, Horizons and the MoDem, remains the leading force in the National Assembly.

Olivier Faure recounts his exchange with the PS leaders. On the one hand, Emmanuel Macron's call is seen as a "mark of respect." "That a President of the Republic feels obliged to call the First Secretary of the PS to inform him of the choice of his Prime Minister, it hasn't happened for ten years?" remarks Luc Broussy, president of the movement's national council and close to Mr. Faure. On the other hand, the appointment of a close associate of the right-wing tenant of the Elysée Palace is probably a synonym for continuity in the policy pursued since 2017.

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