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French President Emmanuel Macron has reshuffled the ranks of his government after losing his majority in the National Assembly. Among the novelties is the exclusion of Damien Abad, the Solidarity minister accused of attempted rape.
As expected, President Emmanuel Macron kept his high-profile ministers, including Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who recently came under fire for the Champions League final fiasco in Saint-Denis.
The Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, also remains; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna; Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu; the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti; the Minister of Education, Pap Ndiaye and the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt.
Laurence Boone, economist and head of the OECD, will be the new head of the post-Brexit talks after her appointment as Europe minister. She replaces Clément Beaune, who goes to the Ministry of Transport.
All eyes on minister accused of attempted rape
All eyes were on the fate of the Minister for Solidarity and Social Cohesion, Damien Abad, accused of abuse by three different women.
The prosecution has opened a formal investigation into Abad after a woman accused him of attempted rape at a party in 2010.
Abad, who suffers from arthrogryposis, a rare disease that affects the joints, denies the accusations and has vowed to sue his accuser.
The accusations against the 42-year-old in the run-up to parliamentary elections in early June were seen as one of several factors that led Macron’s MPs to lose their majority.
The president was singled out by a schoolgirl while in the south of France on June 6, who asked why he was “putting men accused of rape and violence against women at the head of state.”
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is also the subject of a rape complaint filed in 2017.
Macron replaces the trio of ministers defeated at the polls
In addition to Abad’s departure, the Elysee has announced three new appointments to replace the ministers who were defeated in last month’s parliamentary elections.
François Braun takes over as Minister of Health, replacing Brigitte Bourguignon. Braun previously headed Samu-Emergency, an association representing emergency healthcare workers.
Christophe Béchu replaces Amélie de Montchalin as environment minister, a key portfolio for Macron, who has promised to put the transition to a green economy at the heart of his second term. Béchu has previously been Deputy Minister for Local Administration.
Hervé Berville, a Breton deputy, is the new Deputy Minister for the Sea (in charge of fisheries, among other things). He replaces Justine Bénin, who lost her seat in the French Caribbean Parliament.
Damien Abad leaves the French government and is replaced by Jean-Christophe Combe as Minister of Solidarity and Social Cohesion, according to a statement from the Elysee.
Combe was previously head of the French Red Cross.
Confidence vote
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will deliver her speech on Wednesday and could request a vote of confidence for her new cabinet. The left-wing opposition, which emerged stronger from last month’s parliamentary elections, has said it will call a no-confidence motion if it does not.
The vote of confidence will be a delicate step for Macron’s ruling coalition, which has lost its absolute majority in the National Assembly, in a country accustomed to stable parliamentary majorities.
Macron has not announced any coalition pact with other parties nor has he hunted down any major opposition names.T
an inevitable change
Cabinet reshuffling has become necessary for Macron after some ministers were defeated in parliamentary elections last month, forcing them to resign, in line with French political tradition.
Some cabinet posts have also been vacant since Macron’s re-election in April.
But the scope of the review may be larger, as Macron seeks to balance power in his own alliance and send a signal to voters that he has heard their call for change.
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