Manuel Valls

Newly-inaugurated French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed a conservative prime minister in a move to broaden his political appeal and weaken his opponents before legislative elections in June.

French President-elect Emmanuel Macron's party on May 11 unveiled more than 400 candidates who will stand in parliamentary elections in June, with half of them newcomers to politics and half of them women.

France's divided Socialists picked left-winger Benoit Hamon as their presidential nominee on Jan. 29, in the latest twist of a roller-coaster election race that has seen conservative frontrunner Francois Fillon engulfed in scandal.

Benoit Hamon, a former Socialist government rebel, won the first round of a primary on Jan. 22, and will meet ex-prime minister Manuel Valls in a runoff to decide who will be the candidate of the beleaguered left in a presidential election in spring. 

Primary elections of political parties continue in France three months before the presidential elections.

On Monday, the biggest surprise came from the Socialists camp. The winner in the first round of the elections turned out to be Benoît Hamon, former Education Minister at the beginning of the presidency of François Hollande.

Marine Le Pen has overtaken French presidential favourite François Fillon to become the frontrunner in the latest first round election poll.

The Front National leader is now polling at 26.5 per cent, a lead of 1.5 per cent over former Conservative Prime Minister Fillon.

Former French Prime Minister and probable candidate of the left-wing for president Manuel Valls has called for "smart implementation" of the Stability and Growth Pact, and opposed the accession of Turkey to the EU, reported BNT.

These were some of the points on the political agenda of Valls announced on Tuesday.

A decree issued by the French government that reformed the general inspection of judicial services practically putting it under the direct control of the government caused a fresh debate between the judiciary and the government as the former accused the latter of breaking the principle of the separation of powers. 

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was appointed as the new prime minister on Dec. 6 after Manuel Valls resigned to seek the Socialist nomination in the presidential election, the presidency said.

The French president, François Hollande, has named Bernard Cazeneuve to head the French government as prime minister until a presidential election next May.