French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening appointed a new government bringing together a team led by François Bayrou, his fourth prime minister of the year, to pull the EU’s second-largest economy out of a political crisis.
Macron named former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne as education minister in a new cabinet led by centrist Bayrou, the presidency said.
Another former prime minister, Manuel Valls, returned as minister of overseas territories while former interior minister Gérald Darmanin became justice minister.
Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot retained their posts, the presidency said.
The conservative Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, who is committed to fighting illegal immigration, also remained in his post.
The difficult task of presenting a budget plan for next year falls to Eric Lombard, the Minister of the New Economy.
The inclusion of two former prime ministers indicates Macron’s desire to have a strong government that will benefit from stability and not share the fate of Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier.
The priority for Bayrou, 73, is to ensure his government can survive a vote of no confidence and that it adopts a cost-cutting budget for 2025.
The unexpected return of Valls, prime minister from 2014 to 2016, at the head of the Ministry of Overseas Territories shows the importance of this position after the authorities were sharply criticized for their response to the deadly cyclone in the territory of the Indian Ocean in Mayotte, which killed at least 35 people.
Darmanin had long coveted the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs, but after days of intense discussions, he will have to settle for the Ministry of Justice.
The announcement comes as France marks a day of mourning for victims of the cyclone-hit Mayotte archipelago in the Indian Ocean, France’s poorest overseas territory.
Bayrou, head of the centrist MoDem group, an ally of Macron’s party, was appointed on December 13. Many are already predicting that Bayrou will struggle to survive.
France has been in an impasse since Macron gambled on early elections this summer in the hope of strengthening his authority. This decision backfired, with voters electing a parliament divided between three rival blocs.
