France's interior minister appointed Prime Minister as Valls seeks Presidency

Bernard Cazeneuve, currently French interior minister, will replace Manuel Valls as the country's new prime minister, President Francois Hollande's office said on Tuesday.

"He's a strong personality, with experience of state affairs," said a source in the president's entourage, commenting on Cazeneuve's appointment.

Valls is stepping down in order to seek the Socialist Party's nomination to be its presidential candidate in the 2017 election.

Surrounded by supporters on Monday, Valls cast himself as an experienced hand ready to stand against authoritarian and populist political forces that have risen around France.

“I want an independent France,” Valls said, “inflexible in its values faced with the China of Xi Jinping, the Russia of Vladimir Putin, the America of Donald Trump, the Turkey of Recep Erdogan. We need strong experience in this world.”

Valls is running as a centrist in the Socialist party amid a crowded field of candidates on the left.