PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron announced a new government on Monday, appointing François Barrow, his fourth prime minister this year, to lead a team aimed at bringing the EU’s second-largest economy out of a political crisis. To extract from and ensure that. Approval of Budget 2025
Macron named former prime minister Elisabeth Borne, 63, education minister in a new cabinet under the centrist Barrow, announced Alexis Koehler, secretary general of the Elysée.
Another former prime minister, 62-year-old Manuel Valls, returned as minister for overseas territories, while former interior minister Gerald Derminen became justice minister.
Defense Minister Sebastien Lecorno and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Birot both kept their jobs, the presidency said.
Lecorno, a 38-year-old loyalist with a keen political nose, has served in every government since Macron was first elected president in 2017.
Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retellio, who has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, and right-wing Culture Minister Richida Dati also remained in office.
The difficult task of delivering a budget plan for next year falls to Eric Lombard, head of public sector lender Caisse des Depots (CDC), who was named economy minister.
“I’m very proud of the team we’ve put together this evening,” Barrow said at X, adding that his “experienced” cabinet aims to “rebuild confidence”.
The inclusion of the two former prime ministers signals Macron’s desire for a heavyweight government that will enjoy stability and not share the fate of Bairro’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
Bairro had hoped to bring in figures from the left, right and center to shield his government from possible reprimand, but his 35-member team does not include any members of the leftist New Popular Front coalition.
Macron will assemble Barrow’s team for the first meeting of the Council of Ministers on January 3, the presidency said.
Barnier was brought down for failing to secure support for an austerity budget to prop up France’s faltering finances with spending cuts and tax hikes.
Barrow, 73,’s priority is to ensure his government survives a no-confidence vote and passes a cost-cutting budget for 2025.
The surprise return of Walls, who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2016, underscores the importance of the post as head of the overseas territories ministry as authorities prepare for the deadly storm that hit the Indian Ocean region of Mayotte. The response was heavily criticized, with minimal casualties. 35 people
Durman had long been known to aspire to the position of foreign minister, but after days of intense debate, he will have to settle for the justice ministry.
Far-right support
Just before the official announcement, heavyweight right-wing politician Xavier Bertrand, who had been nominated for the health ministry, announced that he would not be part of the government. He alleged that it was created with the tacit support of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who would play a key role in ensuring its survival.
“The Prime Minister informed me this morning, as he proposed yesterday, that he is no longer in a position to entrust me with the Ministry of Justice due to his opposition to (Le Pen’s) National Rally,” Bertrand said in a statement. are.” statement
“Despite their new proposals, I refuse to participate in the French government formed with the support of Marine Le Pen.”
Bertrand is a major irritant to the far right, which he has long opposed.
Le Pen faces sentencing in the embezzlement trial on March 31, 2025, on charges she denies. If convicted, she could lose her chance to stand in the 2027 election and with it her best chance ever to win the presidency.
The announcement came as France observed a day of mourning for the victims of the hurricane-hit Mayotte, France’s poorest overseas region.
Bayrou, head of the centrist MoDem group, which is close to Macron’s party, was appointed on December 13. He is the sixth prime minister of Macron’s mandate.
Many already predict that Bayrou will struggle to survive.
France has been in limbo since Macron gambled on hoping to consolidate his power in snap elections this summer. The move backfired, with voters torn between three rival blocs to elect a parliament.
Le Pen suggested that Macron had been weakened by months of political turmoil and would eventually have to resign.
“I am preparing for early presidential elections,” she told French newspaper Le Parisien last week.