The French president, the centrist Emmanuel Macron, appointed this Monday as prime minister the current head of Labor, Élisabeth Borne, the second woman to access the positionless than a month before the legislative elections.
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“The President of the Republic appointed Élisabeth Borne Prime Minister and commissioned her to form a government,” the French presidency announced in a concise official note. after the expected resignation shortly before of his predecessor Jean Castex.
Borne is the second woman to serve as prime minister, after the socialist Édith Cresson (1991-1992)who in an interview on Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) wished him “a lot of encouragement” with a “macho” political class.
During the transfer of powers, the new head of government paid tribute to Cresson and dedicated her appointment to “all the girls” to whom she said: “Follow your dreams, nothing should stop the fight for the place of women in our society” .
This exalted official, 61 years old, will have to apply Macron’s program, re-elected in April for five yearsas long as the ruling party and its allies achieve a majority in the next legislative elections.
“Ecology, health, education, full employment, democratic renaissance, Europe and security. Together, with the new government, we will continue to act tirelessly for French women and men,” Macron tweeted.
To promote his reforms, the president must achieve a majority of deputies in the elections on June 12 and 19in which he will face an alliance of leftist parties, headed by the radical wing, and a strong extreme right.
Although the polls predict a new majority for the ruling party, the election of Borne is not trivial. This is a nod to socialist voters unhappy with the alliance led by leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon..
Together, with the new government, we will continue to act tirelessly for the French and French
In addition to being a woman, an option that 74% of French people support, according to a recent Ifop poll, this former chief of staff of the socialist Ségolène Royal also belongs to the center-left wing of the ruling party.
In his first official speech, Élisabeth Borne, who is also a candidate for deputy, advocated “acting faster and stronger” against climate change and for the “dialogue” to build public policies
A ‘turn of the page’
His career in the French government, where he held the portfolios of Transport, Ecological Transition and Labor, meets the only criteria advanced by Macron: a “social”, “ecological” and “productive” profile.
The third prime minister of the centrist, after Castex and Edouard Philippe, also knows first-hand the main reform that the president hopes to carry out: the unpopular delay of the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65 years. “Let’s go for a new season of social abuse!” Mélenchon tweeted, after recalling measures adopted by Borne such as reducing benefits for a million unemployed or postponing the end of nuclear energy for 10 years.
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However, it is expected that among the first measures of the new government will be an aid package to face the consequences, especially in energy and food prices, of the war in Ukraine. With the election of Élisabeth Borne, Macron turns the page of a first term marked by social protests such as that of the “yellow vests” and due to the coronavirus pandemic, which Jean Castex had to manage.
“I have given myself unreservedly to this beautiful and elevated function,” Castex assured during his farewell marked by the applause of his collaborators, after recalling the “exceptional, difficult and painful events” he faced. The appointment of the new members of the government, which is announced to be smaller than the current one, is expected in the coming days.
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