Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, has reportedly turned down the post of French prime minister, meaning the incumbent Élisabeth Borne, whose popularity is waiting, particularly after enforcing an unpopular pension reform, is likely to keep her job.
However, the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle is regularly floated in the press and by the entourage of President Emmanuel Macron and government circles. The timetable indicated by various sources varies between the early summer (before 14 July, the French national holiday) and September.
Several names are circulating as possible replacements for Borne, and some heavyweights, like former president Nicolas Sarkozy, are pushing Macron to appoint a right-wing figure.
In late spring, the current president of the European Central Bank (ECB) was reportedly “indirectly sounded out” for the post by the Élysée Palace, the French weekly Marianne revealed on Wednesday (28 June). But Lagarde would have refused, it said. There was no direct confirmation or denial from Lagarde’s office.
Other possible candidates include Gérald Darmanin and Bruno Le Maire, respectively, minister of the interior and minister of economy. However, finding Borne’s replacement has been anything but plain sailing so far.
According to parliamentary sources, a shift too far to the right would jeopardise the balance of the majority, which comprises figures from the left and the right. It would also be frowned upon by the MoDem, the second largest partner in the Macron coalition with 51 MPs.
The name of Julien Denormandie, a former agriculture minister (2020-2022) who has gone into private practice and is inspired by the centre-left, is also being bandied about and has been suggested to the president on several occasions, according to two parliamentary sources.
Macron apparently “looks favourably on him” but has clearly not made up his mind – or received a positive response from Denormandie.
Although relations between Macron and Borne are not the best, the prime minister enjoys considerable support from the parliamentary majority, who appreciate her ability to keep the troops together and doubt whether this can continue with a too right-wing person, several executives from Macron’s Renaissance party told EURACTIV France.
Asked about Borne’s image, dented by the pension reform and the extensive use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution – which enabled the state budget, the social security budget and the pension reform itself to be passed without a vote – the same sources noted that the government has carried on regardless, doing the best it could.
The National Assembly has adopted nearly thirty texts despite the absence of an absolute majority for the presidential campsince the 2022 legislative elections.
In these circumstances, a minister recently told EURACTIV France Borne was a “good synthesis of the different sensibilities” of the majority.
As things stand, she would therefore be “irreplaceable”, especially as there seems to be less and less appetite for the job, as evidenced by the rejections of Christine Lagarde and Véronique Bédague – CEO of Nexity real estate group – and Valérie Rabault, Socialist MP, in the spring of 2022.
Although the prime minister seems likely to remain in office, a cabinet reshuffle is still expected.
A number of ministers could be replaced, including Pap Ndiaye, Minister of Education, who is considered too overcautious on issues of secularism in schools, and Marlène Schiappa, in charge of the Social and Solidarity Economy, who has been implicated in suspicions of misallocation of public funds.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]
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Source: euractiv.com
