On Wednesday, however, they had not managed to reach a broader agreement than the one that existed around the outgoing government, said Maud Bregeon, spokesperson for the outgoing government, then. She described it as Macron's goal being to choose a prime minister with a solution that "guarantees stability".
According to Bregeon, the president has been working with two alternatives.
One is to build on the previous agreement – where Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government has had support from Macron's centrist alliance and the traditional right-wing party Republicans – and try to broaden the cooperation with one or more parties to the left.
The other is to try to reach a compromise with a sufficiently large left-wing group, where it stands outside the government but promises not to bring it down.
The president is ruling out talks with the fringe parties National Rally and Unsubmissive France. He has held talks with leaders both to the right and left, but the relatively moderate Socialist Party to the left is likely to be closest at hand.
During talks at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron was reported to have said he had good hopes of a solution "within 48 hours". On Wednesday, a government source told AFP that a new prime minister is likely to be nominated on Thursday – likely in the evening when Macron returns from a foreign trip.
