France gets new prime minister as predecessor targets presidency
World
France gets new prime minister as predecessor targets presidency
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was appointed as the country’s new prime minister on Tuesday after Manuel Valls resigned to seek the Socialist nomination in next year’s presidential election. Cazeneuve, who has overseen the security forces’ reaction to a string of jihadist attacks that have killed more than 230 people in France over the past two years, will take control of the Socialist government until May’s election. He was named prime minister after President Francois Hollande accepted Valls’ resignation early Tuesday.
We’re told that Francois Fillon is the next president of the Republic. Nothing is set in stone.
Manuel Valls
Valls, who has been prime minister for the past two-and-a-half years, announced on Monday that he would step down to try to rally the fractured French left ahead of a primary in January. In a combative speech, the 54-year-old vowed to take the fight to the conservative opposition and the far-right National Front, which are both ahead of the Socialists in the polls. His announcement came four days after Hollande said he would bow out after a single term, paving the way for Valls to try to become the left’s new standard-bearer.
