They paraded in front of the cameras and the crackling of the cameras, under the cautious gaze of the macronists of the first hour. For the first Council of Ministers of the Castex government, the right turn of Emmanuel Macron was physically embodied on the steps of the Élysée.
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First Jean Castex, then Gérald Darmanin, then Bruno Le Maire, then Jean-Michel Blanquer, then Roselyne Bachelot, then Sébastien Lecornu… Opposite, the ministers from the left looked pale. Moreover, Emmanuel Macron has managed to "bring together almost all the currents of the right" in the government, said the former adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy Camille Pascal.
Richard Ferrand absent
Bread blessed for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the Insoumis, who did not fail to qualify the head of state as "head of the right" . The boss of the PS, Olivier Faure, followed suit by denouncing "a government more right than ever" . Inevitably, at Les Républicains, we took the thing rather badly. All day long, the tenors of the right took turns to refute the idea that they would not have renounced this government. But the reactions which say the most about the political color of the new executive come from historical macronie. Starting with that of the LREM group in the National Assembly, which welcomed the Prime Minister freshly. During this meeting, Tuesday morning, an absence was particularly noticed, that of Richard Ferrand, the President of the National Assembly, former socialist and faithful from the start. "We are much to be still in the digestion of the announcements" , confides a faithful of Emmanuel Macron.
We are much to be still in the digestion of the announcements.
A follower of Emmanuel MacronMany regret not having seen Emmanuel Macron draw enough from the pool of his majority for his reshuffle. And, in doing so, to have broken with the founding commitment of its 2017 campaign: overcoming traditional cleavages. The LREM group at the Assembly was supposed to wear it. “In the institutions of the Fifth Republic, there is a logic which starts from the party, which passes through the majority group and which ends in government. Emmanuel Macron is breaking this institutional continuum , worries a historic macronist. The President has stretched to the maximum of what it was possible to tighten the principle of motley paraphernalia. ”
Inevitably, within the new executive, we refute any imbalance in the government cast. The new government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, did so during his first report to the Council of Ministers. The young elected official thus recalled the original promise of macronism, which was supposed to "allow people from different backgrounds to work together on a common foundation". But, around the head of state, some fear a sling to come from the Macronist deputies. Especially if they will be few to be promoted to Secretaries of State, during the second wave of government appointments, expected for next week.
The bronca of feminists
Beyond the question of political balance, Jean Castex, the new Prime Minister, will also have to deal with the arrival of strong personalities, such as Éric Dupond-Moretti at Justice and Roselyne Bachelot at Culture. He will also have to watch the bronca of feminists who demonstrated near places of power on Tuesday to denounce the appointment of Gérald Darmanin to the Interior. The former Minister of Public Accounts is the subject of a rape complaint, which he refutes.
At the end of this first Council of Ministers, the new government team will meet on Saturday morning for a working seminar. To chart his "new path" , Emmanuel Macron set "four major axes" , announced Gabriel Attal, namely "reconstruction of the country" , "republican patriotism" , "more freedoms and associations in our country" , and finally "Europe" .
The head of state gives his new executive " 600 days " to obtain results, the time which now separates him from the presidential election of 2022. Emmanuel Macron denies it, but it is possible that there think while reshuffling.