Macron remodels his Government a month and a half after constituting it | International

New faces, veteran names coming back and a lot of movement of chairs, with the occasional kick, especially that of the Minister of Solidarities, Damien Abad, fired after the accusations of sexual violence by several women. The first remodeling of the French Government of the second term of Emmanuel Macron has been known this Monday, after intense meetings behind closed doors of the head of the Elysee with his prime minister, Élisabeth Borne. She had already been confirmed despite the fiasco of the legislative elections in June, in which she lost the absolute majority and, therefore, her ability to govern without major shocks. The reconfiguration does not convince the opposition, which accuses the head of the Elysee of a facelift that does not show, he says, a real intention to change course.

The new cabinet was a forced step both due to the resignation of three ministers after losing their seats (as Macron had stipulated), and due to the situation in the National Assembly, where Macronism no longer has the absolute majority that allowed Macron to act —and reform— with great freedom the first five years. The president, in his second and last consecutive term, needs both to strengthen his parliamentary allies —parties such as the centrist MoDem and the Horizons formation, of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe— as well as to show signs of openness towards other potential specific partners of the opposition, at least from the more moderate sectors.

One of the clearest gestures in this regard has been the appointment of Christophe Béchu, until now Minister of Territorial Collectivities and a man close to Philippe, to the key portfolio of Ecological Transition – the Government has promised to prioritize the fight against climate change – which he had to leave Amélie de Montchalin after losing his seat. For his part, Béchu is replaced by Sarah El Haïry, from MoDem and who in Macron’s first term was Secretary of State for Youth.

It will not be the only return to the political arena of a former Macronist minister. Despite having announced her departure from politics, Marlène Schiappa, responsible first for Equality and then for Citizenship, returns with the portfolio of Deputy Minister of Social and Solidarity Economy. Other names on the long list of the new government, 21 men and 20 women in total (Borne, the first female head of government in three decades in France, has managed to maintain parity, even though there are more men in key portfolios than women) also sound like former cabinets. In addition, heavyweights of the first Borne Government remain, such as the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire; of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin; Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti, or Education, Pap Ndiaye.

“Large consultations with the political forces that last two weeks to, in the end… bring back Marlène Schiappa. Macronism has difficulties recruiting”, ironically the president of the parliamentary group of France Insumisa, Mathilde Panot. For the populist left-wing deputy, the government’s remodeling is nothing more than a “game of chairs” that shows that macronism “is retreating” and is a power “in the process of decomposition”. The head of the Socialists in the hemicycle, Boris Vallaud, wondered if Macron has understood the message of the polls after his bump in the legislative elections. “The important thing is not so much the casting as the road map”, as well as “the consequences that Macron and Borne draw from their electoral defeat”, he said on the radio station Franceinfo. “What compromises are you willing to make?”

The changes are also not convincing in the right wing of French politics. According to far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who with 89 deputies has become one of the main forces in the National Assembly, Macron “has once again ignored the verdict of the polls and the will of the French for a new policy.” .

The team change has also been used to get rid of an increasingly uncomfortable figure for the Government: Damien Abad. The one who was presented as a trophy taken from the conservative Republicans, became as soon as he was appointed Minister of Solidarities, Autonomy and Disabilities in the main stone of the delicate gear of Borne, due to the allegations of attempted rape that weigh on him. Upon leaving office, Abad said Monday that he was the victim of “ignoble slander orchestrated with a well-chosen calendar” and warned of a “disastrous movement that relegates the presumption of innocence to the rank of an unimportant antiquity.” On the contrary, Borne has kept in her position Chrysoula Zacharapoulou, Secretary of State for Development and also accused of sexual abuse during her practice as a gynecologist, facts that she rejects, as does Abad.

It is not the first time that a Macron minister has been accused, and even investigated, for sexual abuse. The most remembered case is that of Darmanin. Macron alleged the presumption of innocence to keep his Interior Minister in one of the most important portfolios of his government, for which he has been confirmed again. Ultimately, the court closed the case. With Abad, however, he did not want to wait. He shows, probably, the greatest fragility of the new cabinet before a National Assembly in which he no longer has an absolute majority.

Another sign of the fragility of the new cabinet is the fact that Borne, as is tradition, will present his road map to the floor this week. But, unlike in previous years, the prime minister will not foreseeably submit to a vote of confidence, as the opposition demands, although it is not mandatory, since she is not guaranteed to come out unscathed now that macronism does not dominate the lower house.

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