(Paris) This is the first strong act of the second five-year term: Elisabeth Borne was appointed Prime Minister on Monday by Emmanuel Macron, two hours after the resignation of Jean Castex. The former and the new head of government must proceed to a transfer of power in the early evening at Matignon.
Posted at 12:46 p.m.
The one who was until then Minister of Labor, after having held the portfolios of Transport and Ecological Transition since 2017, is the first woman appointed to Matignon since the resignation of Edith Cresson in 1992, the second of the Fifth Republic.
Jean Castex had presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron on Monday around 4 p.m., who had accepted it in stride. The two men exchanged for about an hour before a tweet from the Head of State thanking him for having “acted with passion and commitment in the service of France”, calling to be “proud of the work accomplished and the results obtained together”. .
On Sunday, Mr. Castex explained that “it is a new era which is opening up” for him, “without remorse or regrets”, after almost two years of being “Prime Minister of Stewardship”.
Photo Francois Mori, Associated Press archives
Former French Prime Minister Jean Castex
Big favorite since midday to succeed him, the Minister of Labor Élisabeth Borne was received at the Elysee Palace at the end of the afternoon.
Emmanuel Macron assured a week ago in Berlin that he already knew the name of his next prime minister, endowed according to him with a “social”, “ecological” and “productive” profile.
Since then, rumors have been swirling. Only certainty, believed to know his entourage: it will be a woman. Especially since 74% of French people are for it, according to an Ifop poll published in the JDD.
For the head of the MoDem François Bayrou, an ally of Emmanuel Macron, it takes a person, man or woman, who has “leadership, experience”. And you need a fairly great empathy with the Head of State, because, “when the President of the Republic hates the Prime Minister, things can only go wrong”, he stressed to the Grand Jury on Sunday, citing the case of François Mitterrand and his Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1988-1991).
“Macho” political class
After a weekend dominated by the names of former ministers Catherine Vautrin (ex-LR), Valérie Létard (centrist) or Marisol Touraine (ex-PS), the Élisabeth Borne hypothesis finally prevailed.
This tenacious technician, considered loyal, is perceived by macronie as having proven herself in government during the entire last five-year term, from Transport to Labor to Ecology.
This former chief of staff of Ségolène Royal also has the merit of belonging to the left wing of macronie, an asset at a time when new social reforms are announced, starting with “the mother of battles” on the retreats.
Placing “social justice and equal opportunity” at the heart of his fights, the hypothesis of his appointment was however viewed with circumspection by certain lieutenants of Emmanuel Macron, judging the profile of this engineer who became prefect “not political enough”. , when she must face universal suffrage for the first time during the June legislative elections in Calvados.
A woman in Matignon? Edith Cresson, the only one to have held the position (1991-1992), wished in the JDD “a lot of courage” with a “macho” political class.
This choice is all the more strategic as it confirms the direction that the Head of State intends to take, who has promised to take into account the anger expressed by many French people during the “yellow vests” crisis. and during the presidential election, and to change the method.
“The composition of the new government, the identity of the great ministers, the identity of the prime minister can have a very strong importance on the legislative elections”, had thus underlined Sunday evening on LCI the pollster Frédéric Dabi, of the Ifop, recalling that “the appointment of Édouard Philippe in 2017 had allowed the presidential majority to break the right into several pieces”.
But, he notes, “the impatience of the French” focuses above all “on questions of inflation, purchasing power, environment and security” which will have to be answered in an anxiety-provoking context of crisis. of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine which are fueling soaring energy and food prices.
The new government team, promised tighter, is now expected in the coming days and will have to lead the battle for the legislative elections, scheduled for June 12 and 19.
For the time being, the presidential bloc is credited with some 26% of voting intentions and would retain a majority in the National Assembly, however challenged by the New Popular Ecological and Social Union between LFI, EELV, PS and PCF (Nupes) , which would get 28% and the National Rally (24%) of Marine Le Pen.
These oppositions accuse Mr. Macron of “social damage”, castigating in particular the reform of the pension at 64-65 years announced.
The head of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who won 22% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, announced to him on Sunday that he wanted to raise the minimum wage to 1,500 euros net in the event of Nupes’ success in the legislative elections. Himself a candidate for the post of Prime Minister in the event of victory of his coalition in the legislative elections, he qualified Monday Mme Terminal “is among the harshest of social abuse”.
Marine Le Pen for her part considered that by appointing Mme Terminal at Matignon, Emmanuel Macron “continues his policy of social destruction”.