After the garden party Thursday, May 11 in the gardens of Matignon, it’s time for cards for members of the government. What will become of the ministers of the Castex team? They know it, we must expect a big change. The president has the will to replace the government in depth to “to breathe new life”, an adviser from the Elysée explained to us on Thursday. A dozen names have even already been submitted to the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life. Not enough to reassure the quarantine of ministers and secretaries of state suspended for days in the white smoke of the Elysée. Because many are those, of course, who want to re-enlist. But they will be few to stay.
The ministers of the outgoing government can be classified into three categories. There are ministers who want to continue but who do not show up for the legislative elections. Some do it out of consistency, like Bruno Le Maire, who has already served three terms, others because of respect for non-accumulation. For example Sébastien Lecornu, mayor of Vernon and president of the departmental council of Eure. Still others because they have been scalded by complicated past campaigns, such as the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti. Among those who absolutely want to stay. Some believe that they already have the confidence of the president, that they therefore do not need the democratic anointing, like Julien Denormandie or Marlène Schiappa.
Then there are those who, on the contrary, want to go. And there, the scenarios diverge. It would be a formality for some, in particular Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, who returns to the 10th district of the North. It will be much tougher for others, like Jean-Michel Blanquer, who is running for the first time, in the 4th district of Loiret.
And then there are those who leave. They came to politics and today they are moving away from it. It was a mission, a one-time job, but not a job. Some want to go back to private life. But they will still have to comply with the rules of moralization of public life. Thus, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, this former pilot, dreams of being at the head of Air France. But as a former Minister of Transport, “it does not exist”, confirms a ministerial adviser. Another scenario is Cédric O, the discreet Secretary of State for Digital. The co-founder of the march is a historical Macronie, close to the president. And despite an impeccable CV – HEC diploma, several years at Safran – it will be difficult for him to find a new job in the digital sector. Again to avoid any conflict of interest.
The figure of the day is the number of ministers candidates for the legislative elections. They are 22 to start. Barbara Pompili, the Minister for Ecological Transition, is back in the second constituency of the Somme, where she is already elected. First candidacy, on the other hand, for Elisabeth Moreno, the Minister in charge of Equality between women and men, she is a candidate in the ninth constituency of French people living abroad.