French Socialist Mayor Bouamrane Open to Prime Minister Role if Offered

In France, the appointment of a new Prime Minister is still awaited. Invited on the TF1 set, Karim Bouamrane who claims to be "not a candidate for anything at all" nevertheless displays his ambition to hold the position. "If my phone rings, [...] if the President of the Republic says to me: ’Hello, Mr. Bouamrane, would you like to become Prime Minister?’, I will take the information and turn to my political party [...] the Socialist Party, and I will discuss exactly the means to get there." The mayor of Saint-Ouen conditions his possible appointment as Prime Minister on consultation with all political parties gathered within the New Popular Front (NFP). If "the Socialist Party, the Communist Party, the Green Party and all those who make up the New Popular Front [...] say ’we agree’, we are OK to find a way." And this will also involve discussions "with all the formations of the Republican bloc, measure by measure," he added. "A collective responsibility when one is a socialist is to find the paths of compromise," which does not mean "compromise," the PS elected official continued.

Bouamrane says he is capable of embodying the position of Prime Minister. "When you are a political leader, you are always ready," he estimated, stressing that "you cannot arrive today only with a monolithic vision." He also said he had had contacts with the Élysée to present his "ideas, (his) way of seeing things" to the President’s entourage.