Elisabeth Borne. Elisabeth Borne does not give up finding government agreements with the opposition. The Prime Minister exchanges today with the presidents of the LR, socialist and environmentalist groups of the Assembly.
[Mis à jour le 28 juin à 12h52] This week, on the orders of the President of the Republic, Elisabeth Borne must “explore with the groups of the National Assembly which correspond to the political forces of government the degree of cooperation to which they are ready”. The Prime Minister has until Emmanuel Macron’s return from abroad, scheduled for Thursday, to prepare “proposals for a roadmap” for “the coming months and years”, and “for the composition of a new government of action at the service of France”. A new wave of consultations is therefore launched.
Elisabeth Borne met Monday the three presidents of the groups of the presidential majority: Aurore Bergé (Renaissance), Jean-Paul Mattéi (Modem) and Laurent Marcangeli (Horizons). She entered the hard this Tuesday, speaking with Olivier Marleix, president of the LR group, this morning. The latter again closed the door to any “coalition” between LR and the presidential majority, while ensuring that it would be possible to “progress together” on certain texts, in particular on purchasing power. Elisabeth Borne and Olivier Marleix also agreed on “the fact that we wanted to give priority to working France”, said the latter when leaving Matignon. The consultations continue this Tuesday evening for the Prime Minister, who will meet Boris Vallaud (PS), then Julien Bayou and Cyrielle Chatelain (EELV). According members of her entourage, she has not given up on building government agreements. Elisabeth Borne will receive Mathilde Panot, for LFI, and Marine Le Pen for the RN on Wednesday, even if Emmanuel Macron has ruled out any government agreement with these two parties.
Will Elisabeth Borne stay at Matignon?
Under the fire of criticism since the legislative elections, Elisabeth Borne has finally been confirmed in her role as Prime Minister: “I have decided to confirm my confidence in Elisabeth Borne”, declared Emmanuel Macron on June 25 in an interview with theAFP. The head of government therefore resumed her place in the negotiations with parliamentarians, even if she received instructions and clarifications from the head of state before exchanging with the opposition and unsurprisingly the “basis of these discussions” will be that of the “framework of the presidential project and that of the presidential majority, which may be amended or enriched”. There is therefore no question of giving up on the pension reform because the majority does not budge: we must “work longer, as all our neighbors do, taking into account working conditions and therefore the rules of hardship, taking into account count the long careers”.
Will Elisabeth Borne ask for confidence in the National Assembly?
Now that Emmanuel Macron has renewed his confidence in her, Elisabeth Borne looks assured in her position for a moment. The only event that could make her falter would be if the Prime Minister decides to call a vote of confidence in the Assembly, following her general policy speech scheduled for July 4. A vote of confidence is a custom without being an obligation, and it is much easier to win in the case of an absolute majority in the Assembly in the colors of the government. This year, the operation would be risky. However, the reluctance of Elisabeth Borne to call a vote of confidence would only harden the criticism of the opposition, which calls on the Prime Minister to test her legitimacy before this new Assembly. Asked Thursday, June 23 on LCI, Elisabeth Borne said she had not yet “decided”. The vote of confidence must therefore be one of the topics discussed with the opposition groups during the week’s consultations.
Tuesday, June 21, Elisabeth Borne presented the President of the Republic with a courtesy resignation, as is customary after legislative elections. Resignation refused by Emmanuel Macron. An unexpected decision on the part of the President of the Republic, when custom dictates that it be accepted, then that the Head of State appoints his Prime Minister again a few days later. However, several elements could justify the choice of Emmanuel Macron. Starting with the will of his head of government to remain in office to be able to carry out some hot issues. “The Prime Minister pleaded to stay in order to have the tools to deal with the situation and the emergencies of the French, which we could not do with a resigning government and in the management of current affairs”, indicated the entourage of the Matignon tenant at World. Among the topics of the moment that Elisabeth Borne would like to advance: the revaluation of the point of index of civil servants, the extension of the car bonus, the launch of the flash mission on emergencies in the hospital or even texts related to Parcoursup.
Faced with all these files, Emmanuel Macron would not want to have a “prevented” government because of his status as a resigner. A status that could have lasted, while the future ministerial team takes shape. Because the Head of State does not like to rush. He made this clear after his re-election, taking three weeks to appoint his new government. If he had accepted the resignation of Elisabeth Borne, haste would have dictated his choices because the head of state then chained trips abroad.
Elisabeth Borne was appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron on May 16, 2022, after weeks of speculation following the latter’s re-election on April 24. The Head of State had assured a few days before this appointment that he wanted by his side “someone sensitive to social, environmental and productive issues”, a personality “embodiing both ‘renewal’ and at the same time time ‘someone solid, capable of doing 20 hours in front of fifteen million viewers and of holding in the cauldron of the Assembly, during questions to the government'”, also said the entourage of the head of state. All with “an asserted ecological sensitivity because Emmanuel Macron has promised to appoint a ‘prime minister in charge of ecological planning'” (Le Monde).
Elisabeth Borne thus imposed herself as the one who ticked the most boxes in this equation. It even became obvious in the very last days before his appointment, especially after the outcry provoked in the majority by the hypothesis Catherine Vautrin, former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy who had fought against marriage for all during the quinquennium by Francois Hollande.
Who is Elisabeth Borne? Express Biography
Before being appointed Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne was Minister of Labor in the Castex government, after having held the portfolios of Transport and Ecological Transition since 2017. Relatively little known to the French, which can constitute “an asset” in her new functions, it was however “more so than were Édouard Philippe and especially Jean Castex” when they arrived at Matignon.
A graduate of Polytechnique, a tenacious technician, deemed loyal, Elisabeth Borne is in any case perceived by Macronie as having proven herself in government throughout the last five-year term. This former chief of staff of Ségolène Royal, who was also prefect and director of large public companies such as the RATP, also has the merit of belonging to the left wing of the majority, an asset in the run-up to the legislative elections and the he hour when new social reforms are announced, starting with “the mother of the battles” on pensions.