Towards a government reshuffle to revive Macron's five-year term

Photo: Stéphanie Lecocq Agence France-Presse French President, Emmanuel Macron (right), and his Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne (behind left), during a ceremony in honor of former French Minister and President of the European Commission Jacques Delors at the Hôtel des Invalides, in Paris, Friday.

France Media Agency in Paris

January 7, 2024

• Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron could proceed quickly, perhaps as early as Monday, with a government reshuffle in order to breathe new life into a second five-year term marked by an absence of an absolute majority in the National Assembly to govern.

“It will move at the start of the week, probably with a new prime minister on Monday,” says an influential advisor.

In recent months, the Head of State has “taken responsibility for” unpopular reforms, such as that of pensions, or very controversial ones, such as the law on immigration which has deeply divided his camp.

At the same time, he faces the rise in power of the National Rally (far right), given the lead in the polls for the European elections in June 2024. Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN deputies, came second in the last two presidential elections of 2017 and 2022 behind Emmanuel Macron.

Emmanuel Macron received his Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, early Sunday evening to discuss “important issues”, according to the Élysée.

“Everything is possible… Including nothing”, summarizes another close to President Macron, at a time when the Head of State is phosphorus on the recomposition of his team after having consulted widely this week, from the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, to his former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, via the centrist François Bayrou.

The latter estimated on Sunday on BFMTV that a “change” was “necessary”.

But, for all that, Élisabeth Borne, in office for 20 months, “is not doomed: everyone is giving their funeral oration… But we are moving a little quickly”, warns a close friend of the head of the State.

Even if a retention of Élisabeth Borne cannot be ruled out, Emmanuel Macron has been reviewing his options for Matignon for several days, with two candidates emerging: Julien Denormandie, an early Macronist and former Minister of Housing and Agriculture, and Sébastien Lecornu, current Minister of the Armed Forces and from the right.

The current Prime Minister is “damaged”, said the leader of the deputies of France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) Mathilde Panot, for whom Emmanuel Macron has no way “only bad choices” to replace it, failing to initiate a real “break” in the political line.