France's Macron prepares to name ministers

A leading French conservative accused President Emmanuel Macron of "dynamiting" the political landscape on Tuesday as he put together a government that is expected to include former rivals on both left and right. 


Macron wants to break through the left-right divide that has dominated the euro zone's second-largest economy for decades, and so is drawing in figures from outside his year-old centrist Republic on the Move (REM) party to complete his list of ministers, expected on Wednesday. 


"We want to bring people together, beyond old divides that have become pointless," REM's secretary-general Richard Ferrand told France Inter radio. 


The divide-and-conquer tactics by the centrist Macron, elected on May 7, are spreading alarm in the Socialist party and the conservative Republicans (LR), both of which are still licking their wounds after their presidential defeat. 


They fear he will poach more of their leading figures as he tries to widen his political base before crucial parliamentary elections in June. 


In a sign of that concern, LR senior lawmaker Francois Baroin disowned party colleague Edouard Philippe for accepting Macron's offer of the job of prime minister on Monday. 


"What Emmanuel Macron is proposing is dynamiting not political reshaping," Baroin told BFM TV. 


Baroin is leading LR's campaign for the parliamentary elections, which will be key for his party's future as well as Macron's chances of carrying out his pro-business, pro-EU policies. 


Benoit Hamon, who gathered just over 6 percent of the votes for the Socialist Party in the first round of the presidential election in April, said left-wingers did not belong in the upcoming government. 


"Who can think that the Left will pull itself together if it is part of a coalition led by a member of The Republicans party?" he said. 


But the list of those tipped to be part of the government included veteran Socialists, as well as conservatives, centrists and newcomers to French politics. Macron has said he wants a team of maximum 15 ministers, fewer than in the outgoing Socialist administration

Source: NNA