By Abdellatif Mammeri
Twenty-two days after his re-election for a second term, Emmanuel Macron has finally appointed his prime minister. This May 15, the president put an end to three weeks of waiting, impatience even annoyance and speculation of all kinds.
After a weekend dominated by the emergence of several names of former ministers, it was that of the Minister of Labour, Elisabeth Borne, who prevailed. His appointment was formalized by a simple press release around 6:30 p.m. “The President of the Republic has appointed Mrs. Elisabeth Borne Prime Minister and instructed her to form a government”. The presidency explained: “It is the choice of competence in the service of France, of a woman of conviction, action and achievement.
Ms. E. Borne, The portrait-robot.
Besides the advantage of being a woman – the second female Prime Minister since Edith Cresson in 1991 – the 26th Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic is recognized for her hard work and her tenacity. Faithful among the faithful of the President of the Republic since 2017, she has proven herself in government throughout the five-year term, Minister of Transport then that of Labor via Ecology. Ms. Elisabeth Borne carried out two major complicated reforms during the president’s first term. First, the reform of the SNCF, source of the anger of the railway workers whose strike lasted several weeks. Then the reform of the unemployment insurance considered then as right-wing reform therefore unpopular. This former adviser to Jack Lang and director of the cabinet of Ségolène Royal, is distinguished from the other women cited in this position (Vautrin, Touraine, Azoulay, etc.) by her supposed or real membership of the left wing of Macronie. Emmanuel Macron, who had declared on the evening of his re-election to be a new president for a new people, was to give a political signal to the French and proof of the announced change. The president has mainly relied on efficiency and authority according to observers.
The prime minister’s primary task will be to form the government. She will have the thankless task of proposing personalities knowing that the last choice remains that of the president, known to take care of everything until the last investitures for the legislative elections. And then, it will be necessary to carry out the electoral battle of June 12 and 19. The legislative elections which promise to be less obvious and more difficult to negotiate for the outgoing majority.
The appointment of the Prime Minister is a power specific to the President of the Republic defined in Article 8 of the Constitution. It is also a political act that determines and gives an indication of the policy that the Head of State intends to pursue. Emmanuel Macron wanted a prime minister with social and ecological fiber. Elisabeth Borne is a technician with a leftist sensibility, she masters ecological issues. Considered more “techno” than political, loyal to the president and above all without national ambition, which guarantees harmony in the executive couple.
If the new Prime Minister succeeds in her first mission, that of bringing a majority to parliament, she will be able to tackle the mother of the reforms “Retirement”. A reform promised by the candidate president during the election campaign and already attacked by opponents, unions and part of the population. Ms. Elisabeth Borne must then find sufficient energy to hold firm in front of the deputies – with an assembly which will probably be much more plural than that of the last legislature – but also to hold up against the unions and especially against the street.
Ms. Borne is the third prime minister of the current tenant of the Elysée. Emmanuel Macron had chosen Edouard Philippe, a right-wing man from the “Les Républicains” party, after the 2017 victory for purely political reasons. He made him carry the reforms that the right has never been able or dared to do. Overshadowing the president as the elections approach, Edouard Philippe resigned to leave Matignon Jean Castex in July 2020.
The president has just appointed a strong woman, a formidable negotiator and master of union language in the perspective of a risky five-year term. Barely appointed the Prime Minister is the subject of harsh criticism. For Jean-Luc a woman “so-called” and “at the forefront of social and ecological brutality”. ” Faced with a highly predictable ecological disaster », the president of the republic « chose to appoint Prime Minister a catechumen of neoliberalism » denounced the leader of insubordinate France During a press conference. For the left, Madame Elisabeth Borne is a woman of the right, for the right, she is of the left. Perhaps by appointing the former Minister of Labor as Prime Minister, the President of the Republic was right on target.
Winning bet? The results of the legislative elections will be a first indicator.