French president appoints Bernard Cazeneuve prime minister

PARIS, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- French President François Hollande appointed Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the prime minister's position Tuesday.

The vacancy came with the resignation of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who stepped down Monday to run for president. Hollande announced last week he would not run for re-election.

Cazeneuve, 53, will name his government at a later date, but with elections five months away, meaningful changes are not expected. Valls is seen as a centrist in a Socialist Party with many prospective candidates, and his low current approval ratings suggest a challenging campaign.

After the two-round presidential election in April and May, France will hold legislative elections in June.

A lawyer, and later Parliament member and mayor of Cherbourg, Cazeneuve has been a loyal ally of Hollande, rising from government spokesman in 2012 to economy minister, then interior minister and now the prime minister's position. His prominence grew as interior minister; Cazeneuve presented calm and reassuring pronouncements on behalf of the government during recent terrorist incidents in France, notably two, in Paris and in Nice, which together killed more than 250 people.

Bruno Le Roux, Socialist majority leader in France's legislature, was appointed to replace Cazeneuve in the interior ministry.