President Emmanuel Macron on Monday intensified efforts to find a new prime minister after almost two months of deadlock following inconclusive legislative elections, hosting two former presidents and two potential candidates. France has been without a permanent government since the July 7 polls, in which the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron’s centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups. Two possible candidates for prime minister — former premier Bernard Cazeneuve from the centre left and right-wing ex-minister Xavier Bertrand — held separate meetings with Macron. It is traditional for the French president to consult predecessors during moments of national importance, and Macron also met Monday at the Elysee presidential palace with the two surviving former presidents — right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande. FRANCE 24’s François Picard welcomes Dr. Andrew Smith, Historian of modern France and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University of London, as Dr. Smith brings to life France’s dive into uncharted political waters and illustrates the "extraordinary political coverage as these convoys arrive at the Elysee Palace." He describes the surreal scene as political theater from another era: "It seems that you’ve got these suitors to the king suddenly talking about "who will be given the reins of power". And one thing is ultimately clear during France’s unprecedented exercise in Constitutional Democracy, remarks Dr. Smith: "Macron is trying to remind people that there is no government without the president in France."
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