The Prime Minister will be leaving the Executive shortly; this Thursday he will say goodbye to his team and there is no way he will be able to attend the legislative session
French President Emmanuel Macron already has a replacement for his Prime Minister Jean Castex, who took part in his last cabinet meeting on Wednesday, although the French head of state has not yet revealed his identity. Two weeks after the presidential election, in which the reformist leader was re-elected with 58.5% of the vote, there is a change of government. A relay race that will take place a month before the parliamentary elections on 12 and 19 June.
According to Republican tradition, Castex, 56, will officially tender his resignation and that of his ministers between Friday and Monday, although no law obliges him to do so. The France Info chain also assured that the leader is going to take “a break” in his political career after two years at the head of government dealing with the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. It will therefore not be submitted to the legislative authorities.
According to Article 8 of the French Constitution, the President of the Republic appoints the new Prime Minister. And, at his suggestion, to the other members of the Executive. Castex today convened a dinner in Matignon, the prime minister’s seat, to say goodbye to his ministers and secretaries of state. “A formidable team leader, a listening prime minister, a friend, thank you Jean Castex,” the head of the economics department, Bruno Le Maire, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Before arriving in Matignon, Castex was unknown to most French people. He was mayor of Prades (Prada, in Catalan), a city of 6000 inhabitants in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, near the Spanish border. In April 2020, Macron entrusted him with the de-escalation process, after the first incarceration due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The French press is now speculating about who his replacement could be. And in many groups Macron would bet on a woman. In the Fifth Republic, France has had only one prime minister: Edith Cresson, appointed in 1991 by Socialist President François Mitterrand. Now that of the current Minister of Employment, Elisabeth Borne; that of UNESCO Director Audrey Azoulay; or that of Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB).
There is also speculation that Macron could promote any of the current ministers to that position. Among those who, according to the French press, have more options are Julien Denormandie (Agriculture), the aforementioned Bruno Le Maire (Economics) or Gérald Darmanin (Interior).
If the country’s parliamentary elections were held today, Macron’s party, La República en Marcha (Renaissance) and its allies would gain an absolute majority with between 310 and 350 seats, a figure comparable to the number they currently hold. according to the OpinionWay – Weekly barometer of Kéa Partners for the economic daily ‘Les Echos’.
The union of left-wing parties – La France Insumisa, the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV) – would win between 135 and 165 seats, becoming the main opposition power.
For their part, the Republicans, the party of the moderate right, would lose a significant representation weight from 101 delegates (the same poll gives her 50 to 60 seats). And National Regroupment, Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, will rise from the six deputies it currently has to between 20 and 40 seats.
Source: La Verdad
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