French President Emmanuel Macron said he will keep a centrist caretaker government on through the Olympics to avoid "disorder," brushing aside an 11th-hour prime minister nomination by the country's leftist coalition. Macron made his widely expected announcement in a TV interview late Tuesday. Just before that appearance, the leftist coalition that won the most votes in this month's parliamentary elections selected little-known civil servant Lucie Castets as their choice for prime minister. But Macron told the France 2 network that the current government, who resigned last week to take on a purely caretaker role, would "handle current affairs during the Olympics," staged in Paris and elsewhere in France through to August 11. "Until mid-August, we're not in a position to be able to change things because it would prompt disorder," Macron said. "I have chosen the stability" to safeguard the Games, which will soon gather about 10,500 athletes and millions of fans. Party leaders in the leftist coalition immediately slammed Macron's unwillingness to consider their prime minister candidate. There is no firm timeline for when Macron must name a new prime minister, following legislative elections that left the National Assembly, France's influential lower house of parliament, with no dominant political bloc in power for the first time in France's modern Republic. Asked about the leftist coalition's choice, Macron said "The issue is not a name provided by a political group," adding that there must be a parliamentary majority behind the candidate to "pass reforms, pass a budget and move the country forward." Macron, who has a presidential mandate until 2027, said he'd like to form a government as soon as possible, but that "Obviously, until mid-August, we need to be focused on the Games." On Tuesday, the leftist coalition appeared to rush to propose Castets before Macron made his first televised interview since the elections. Writing on X, Ms Castets said it was "with great humility but also great conviction" that she accepted the nomination. Castets, a 37-year-old senior civil servant, graduated from France's elite school Sciences Po and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration and the London School of Economics. She has worked at the General Directorate of the Treasury and Tracfin, the anti-money laundering unit of the Finance Ministry. The New Popular Front described her as "a leader of associative struggles for the defense and promotion of public services, actively involved in the battle of ideas against raising the retirement age to 64 (years old)." They also highlighted her efforts in combating tax fraud and financial crime. — Euronews
