Rumors of a reshuffle have been fueling discussions in the corridors of ministries for several weeks. After a difficult first year in a context of relative majority in the National Assembly, some heads of the executive seem weakened.
“Matignon and the government are weak”, pings a framework of the majority. “Too tech”, “too many”, “too discreet”… In the ranks of the macronie, they are several to denounce in recent months the absence of incarnation of part of the government team. Clearly, ministers unknown to the general public and who fail to highlight their portfolio. At the end of December 2022, a survey for Le Figaro revealed that only six ministers were identified by the French. Six months later, things haven’t changed much.
“The President of the Republic actually only has five ministers: Gérald Darmanin, Bruno Le Maire, Gabriel Attal, Clément Beaune and Sébastien Lecornu”, says a close friend of the head of state. The list seems very short in a government that has 41 members. As rumors of change in government intensify, tongues loosen and ambitions grow. “I plead for a very powerful reshuffle with political ministers who know how to hold their administration”calls for a framework of the majority.
“We need solid ministers, politically and in the media.”
A framework of the majorityat franceinfo
To counter invisibility trials, several ministers have created “a Telegram loop” in which they try to promote their action with parliamentarians, says a MoDem deputy. This is not enough to put an end to the reproaches, in particular towards government figures from civil society. For them, “Times are very, very tough, it has nothing to do with the start of the first five-year term”slips a figure of the majority.
“We remain UFOs in the political landscape”
Coming from the university world, the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, is regularly targeted by the elected representatives of the majority. “We don’t hear it, it doesn’t print. I found the profile very good, but it didn’t reveal itself”regrets a Renaissance deputy. “He is terrified at the idea of coming to the hemicycle, it’s a problem”, alerts a framework of the majority. The former university professor could have made an impression during the presentation of his plan on diversity school or on the harassment file after the suicide of Lindsay, a schoolgirl from Pas-de-Calais. It was not the case.
According to a parliamentary source, “the president sent Brigitte Macron as a firefighter” to receive the parents of the teenager. “I did not find the minister sincere”had declared the mother of the young girl, before praising the reception of the First Lady two days later. “He received the family for more than an hour, he gave them his number. He announced measures in the fall on harassment”, defends the entourage of the minister. And on school co-education, “all the measures that could be taken on our scale have been taken”.
“He comes from civil society, but some analyze his action as if he were a political figure. He was appointed to calm things down in the educational community.”
The entourage of Pap Ndiaye, Minister of National Educationat franceinfo
Erwan Balanant, deputy of the MoDem, points, to him, “unfair reviews” against a minister “not exuberant” but “who has convictions”. The formulation can also apply to François Braun, Minister of Health and former president of Samu. “He’s not bad on the pitch, but he’s not expansive and doesn’t give a boost”notes a framework of the majority. “He is appreciated, knows how to manage his ecosystem, but is not good on the bench”, assures a Renaissance parliamentarian. Understand: not powerful enough in the Assembly, in the face of the opposition’s projections. “For him, politics doesn’t go through punchlines. He doesn’t do com for nothing”, retorts his cabinet, which defends a solid minister in the face of repeated attacks.
“Some people compare François Braun to a turtle. Well, like a turtle, he doesn’t move and remains anchored to the ground.”
The entourage of François Braun, Minister of Healthat franceinfo
For the past few weeks, ministers from civil society have known that they are in danger. “We are not in the majorityrecalls one of them. We were recruited to manage an ecosystem and for our technical capacity, but we are underutilized. We remain UFOs in the political landscape, because we do not have the usual guns.”
To settle permanently in the landscape, many also lack political relays. “They don’t have the means to defend themselves politically, deciphers a ministerial adviser. They are easy targets for deputies in lack of light and who want to be ministers. This remark is particularly true when approaching a reshuffle. Faced with attacks, François Braun had chosen humor, in April, by wanting to launch a “club of the invisible”, during a dinner that was finally canceled, to which Pap Ndiaye and Christophe Béchu were to be invited.
“He embodies nothing”
Unlike his two colleagues, the Minister for the Ecological Transition has been immersed in politics for a long time. Former mayor of Angers (Maine-et-Loire), Christophe Béchu took charge of a portfolio considered a priority by the president, in the same way as Education and Health. Discreet during the fires last summer, he struggled to make a name for himself. “He does not exist on his subjects, he incarnates nothing“, tackled a Renaissance deputy at the start of the year. But the criticisms have since softened, without the general public identifying him. His cabinet likes to refer to an AFP dispatch praising “master’s degree ‘undeniable’ records and notoriety ‘in construction’“.
Another example of a weakened former local elected official: Olivier Klein. The Minister of Housing is “a disaster”dares a little free of charge an elected official of the majority. “He kept saying that everything was going to be settled with the National Housing Refoundation Council. However, all the actors pinpointed the thing, not a single one spoke positively about it”, continues the same interlocutor. The announcements made by the former mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis) have indeed disappointed professionals in the sector. The entourage of Olivier Klein ensures for his part that these measures are not the last, and that the ministry is at work to implement them.
The list of other ministers and secretaries of state struggling to exist is long. Who knows Hervé Berville, Carole Grandjean, Agnès Firmin-Le Bodo, Dominique Faure, Sylvie Retailleau? Not all have wallets in sight, of course.
“Patricia Mirallès is really good, but who is interested in Memory and Veterans? She can do what she wants, it won’t change anything.”
A majority tenorat franceinfo
When it comes to the Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament, missteps are more visible. A fortiori in times of relative majority, and during the pension reform. “Franck Riester, it would be good if he never did media again in his life. He is not up to the level”a majority heavyweight was angry when the minister admitted that women were going to be “a little penalized by the postponement of the legal age”. “It was a challenge to communicate on it, it was not always easy”sweeps his entourage today.
“When you are a minister, you are not free”
If few ministers have revealed themselves since the start of Macron’s second five-year term, it is also, some believe, because government communication leaves little freedom to those concerned. “Matignon bridles everything, it creates frustration”sums up a former government adviser. “They are giving up travel and announcements to let the Prime Minister do it, plague a ministerial adviser. When we say that 80% of the government is transparent, it’s not for lack of hard work, but we can’t embody.”
This other ministerial adviser mentions “the food chain phenomenon: the president steals the announcements from his Prime Minister who does the same with his ministers.” The president had thus reserved the first of the measures on health, in January, the presentation of the water plan in March, or the announcement of the revaluation of the salaries of teachers in April. Critics rejected by Matignon: “If the president or the Prime Minister speaks, it is in the name of the collective. On the contrary, it gives visibility to the subject, and the ministers can then unfold”.
During the debates on the pension reform, the executive’s communication instructions were particularly restrictive. Only the ministers directly linked to the file were authorized to speak, to the great displeasure of the others. “I regret having been prevented from speaking for a certain time”asserts a minister. “There was no break in government communication” on other sites, retorts Matignon.
Rereadings of disputed interviews
Still, the expression of a minister, even outside of retreats, leaves little room for improvisation. Matignon plays the coordinating role and may ask some to postpone speaking. Written press interviews are also a particularly controlled exercise with proofreading by the executive. “It’s a method that’s been in place for a very long time, it’s not about rewriting interviews,” defends Matignon, who adds only to ensure that there are no errors.
However, some members of the executive have had bad experiences in this area. “I do not mind that we correct things, but that we write in the place of the minister, it is not tolerable, annoyed a ministerial adviser. Why are there fewer and fewer interviews in the written press? Because it’s a nightmare!” Some advisers think they have found the way out by “trying to privilege the audiovisual media”. “We ended up taking our freedom from Matignon”, admits one of them. Enough to allow his minister to stay in government?