Glucksmann says he refused to be prime minister in 2024

Raphaël Glucksmann affirmed on BFMTV on Sunday that he had refused to be Prime Minister after the 2024 legislative elections, proof according to him of his ideological distance from Macronism. Contacted by AFP, a source within the executive indicated that this had “been discussed without giving rise to a formal proposal”.

“From the beginning”, the social democratic candidate for the presidential election has “refused” to be Emmanuel Macron's minister, including “Prime Minister (...) post-dissolution”, he said, while his political adversaries, in particular LFI, attribute to him a form of proximity to Macronism, pointing out the career of several members of his entourage.

On the evening of his camp's heavy defeat in the 2024 European elections, Mr. Macron dissolved the National Assembly, leading to legislative elections following which the New Popular Front, a broad coalition of the left, won a relative majority of seats in the hemicycle. After several weeks of consultations with the different parties, Mr. Macron finally chose to appoint LR Michel Barnier as Prime Minister.

“If I were at all seduced by Macronism, I would have accepted all the offers for ten years,” insisted Mr. Glucksmann, affirming that his refusal to join the President of the Republic had always been “very clear in (his) head”. The founder of the Place publique movement, twice head of the list in the European elections against Macronist candidates, listed his differences with the policy pursued by the head of state since his arrival in power, mentioning "triumphant individualism", the "conversion of France to a more liberal policy" or the erasure of the border between "the left and the right". “I never believed that a mandate which begins by lowering the APL and eliminating the ISF could bring a feeling of justice to our country,” he added.