France’s new president Emmanuel Macron on Monday picked conservative Les Républicains leader Édouard Philippe to be his prime minister.
Philippe is the mayor of Le Havre, in the Normandy region, and a member of the Opposition. This is significant as it implies Macron’s La République En Marche party is reaching out to the conservatives to help form the government. Forty-six- year-old Philippe’s party was led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy until 2016.
This is the first time in recent history that a French president has has appointed a prime minister outside his party, according to The Telegraph. Macron has never held elected office and was largely unknown until about a year ago. He needs a majority in the Parliament to push forward his reforms. France will vote for its new Parliament next month. Macron’s party announced they would field candidates in almost every constituency in the country.
On May 8, Macron had won a landslide victory in France’s presidential election, soon after his campaign had faced a “massive and coordinated hacking attack”. He won 66.06% of the votes, while his opponent, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, got 33.94%. This was the first time the country’s Socialist and Republican parties did not have contenders for the post.
Macron faces several challenges including tackling religious violence and uniting a very divided country. France is also grappling with very high rates of unemployment.
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