GOVERNMENT. Jean Castex and the government will resign in the wake of the 2022 presidential election if Emmanuel Macron is re-elected President of the Republic. But the Prime Minister could, according to one scenario, retain his post.
[Mise à jour le 19 avril 2022 à 10h54] Jean Castex and the government surrounding Emmanuel Macron will resign in the wake of the presidential election. The Prime Minister himself made the announcement, this Tuesday, April 19, 2022, on France Inter. Arrived in Matignon in July 2020, at the end of the municipal elections, the head of government will not retain his prerogatives. “After this election, in the days that follow, as tradition dictates, I will present my resignation and that of the government to the President of the Republic,” he replied. Presenting a resignation does not necessarily lead to a departure, the President of the Republic having the possibility of reappointing a resigning minister to his post. However, Jean Castex hinted that he would definitely make his boxes at the end of April, if Emmanuel Macron is re-elected to the Elysée: “I am two who think that a new impetus must be found.” The former Mr. Government Olympics should therefore quickly pack up.
Jean Castex could still play extra time. Without saying it clearly, the current head of government implied that if the scenario of a victory for Marine Le Pen were to materialize on Sunday April 24, he would remain in office until the second round of the legislative elections, as the law allows it. “It all depends on the fate of the polls on Sunday,” he added after discussing a possible departure date. It is only when Parliament is definitively constituted that, traditionally, a government comes to an end.
Who will be the new Prime Minister?
As published The chained Duck on March 16, Emmanuel Macron intends to carry out a profound reshuffle of the members of the government. According to the palmipede, who quotes a source reporting remarks that would have been made by the president-candidate, “no more than four or five” ministers would be reappointed. What corroborate his remarks made a month later. Not a name has yet filtered, even if the first thoughts are already underway.
Among the ministers in office who could keep their portfolio or, at the very least, a place in government, Julien Denormandie, current Minister of Agriculture after having had the City following a Secretariat for Territorial Cohesion, is a key piece in the puzzle for his proximity and loyalty to Emmanuel Macron. An appointment as Prime Minister would not be excluded. Another central element with which Emmanuel Macron should compose: Sebastien Lecornu. The Minister of Overseas, formerly at the Territorial Communities, is part of the inner circle who worked upstream on the presidential campaign of the Head of State and could retain government prerogatives. A third name is also sometimes mentioned: that ofAlexis Kohler, current secretary general of the Elysée, who could enter the government. From there to being the leader? Not so sure.
Because in the corridors of power, echoes suggest that two women would also be considered for Matignon: Christine Lagarde, patroness of the European Central Bank, ex-director of the International Monetary Fund and former Minister of the Economy of Sarkozy, who would have himself proposed it to Emmanuel Macron. The main interested party says she does not want to leave her current position. The other name that comes up is that ofElisabeth Borne. The current Minister of Labour, ex of Transport, could take the lead according to Point and Le Figaro, the latter citing in particular Christophe Castaner, boss of the LREM deputies: “the two reforms considered “impossible” of the five-year term, on the SNCF and unemployment insurance, it was Élisabeth Borne who piloted them. A choice which could however not necessarily appeal to the left in view of the opposition that these reforms have aroused, although it is itself from this current.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron vaguely mentioned the subject during an interview given to the Figaro April 7. “In 2017, I made the unprecedented choice to appoint a Prime Minister who was not with me during the campaign and who was not from my political family. I then did the same thing with Jean Castex” , he commented, before adding: “You always have to choose the one that appears to be the most compatible with what you want to wear at a given period. This will in any case suppose continuing to move forward in overtaking.” What to suggest that his possible future head of government would not be an LREM card?
Which ministers could be retained?
Given the current geopolitical context, a renewal of Jean-Yves Le Drian in Foreign Affairs, or even Florence Parly to the Armies, does not seem far-fetched, just like that of Bruno the Mayor to the Economy, he who managed the management and economic recovery of the coronavirus crisis. A period during which Gabriel Attal stood out at the door-parolat. Unanimously hailed for the clarity of his speeches, the youngest of the government could also be integrated into the equation of the new government.
On the departure side, the vast majority of ministers in place should pack their bags, starting with Jean-Michel Blanquer. In office since 2017, the Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports, although close to Emmanuel Macron, has been the subject of much criticism, he who has been particularly exposed throughout the five-year term, while as Olivier VeranMinister of Health, who had recovered the management of the health crisis when the epidemic was at its highest, and whose fate is uncertain, just like that ofEric Dupond Moretti.
Who could be the new ministers?
Among the possible arrivals in a new government, nothing has yet been mentioned. Only the Christine Lagarde hypothesis as Prime Minister briefly caused a little ink to flow, slipped to Emmanuel Macron by Nicolas Sarkozy. But the former minister under Chirac and Sarkozy, and former director of the International Monetary Fund, is in office as president of the European Central Bank: “I have a job, I have a function. I am in Frankfurt until 2027. I don’t usually give up along the way,” she replied in January. The former left or right elected officials who rallied to Emmanuel Macron could also have in mind to integrate the government (Valls, Woerth, Estrosi, Muselier, Vassal…). The president-candidate, he thinks of a team in which “will be present figures who allow to continue to give a dynamic”, while also being formed by “a new generation” which he wishes “to continue to bring out”.
If the question of the names that will make up the future government has not yet been decided, and should give headaches given the need to find a political balance with all allied sensitivities, Emmanuel Macron would have undertaken to respect a rule that he had announced that he would hold in 2017, before ignoring it: limiting the number of ministers, deputy ministers and secretaries of state. According to European 1, the president-candidate would consider limiting his government to 15 ministers, eliminating any post of deputy minister and secretary of state. He would also like to review the prerogatives of these positions by concentrating them on specific themes with a fixed timetable. Will he keep his word this time around?
The government of Jean Castex
The current government led by Jean Castex was unveiled on July 6 and 26, 2020. Renewed to a third after the resignation of Edouard Philippe, it underwent slight modifications on December 8, 2021 with the resignation of Alain Griset, Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs, sentenced for “incomplete or misleading declaration of his financial situation”, and on March 5, 2022 with the departure of the Secretary of State in charge of Priority Education Nathalie Elimas (resignation after the opening of an administrative investigation concerning accusations of moral harassment vis-à-vis his collaborators) and the Minister for Territorial Cohesion Jacqueline Gourault, a member of the Constitutional Council. All three had been replaced by members of the government already present, whose prerogatives were extended.
Jean Castex’s government will continue to exercise until after the second round of the presidential election. A few days after the outcome of the ballot, the Prime Minister should submit his resignation as well as that of his government, as Bernard Cazeneuve had done in 2017 (three days after the second round) or even François Fillon in 2012 (four days after ). Until the appointment of a new Prime Minister, it is the last Prime Minister in office who manages the day-to-day affairs of the country.
Here is the list of Castex government ministers : Jean Castex, Prime Minister, Head of Government; Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe of Foreign Affairs; Barbara Pompili, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition; Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports; Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery; Florence Parly, Minister of Armed Forces and Defence; Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior; Elisabeth Borne, Minister of Labour, Employment and Integration; Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of Overseas; Eric Dupond-Moretti, Minister of Justice, Keeper of the Seals; Joël Giraud, Minister of Cohesion and Territories; Roselyne Bachelot, Minister of Culture; Olivier Véran, Minister of Health and Solidarity; Annick Girardin, Minister of the Sea; Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation; Julien Denormandie, Minister of Agriculture and Food; Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Public Service and Transformation.
The list of delegate ministers: Marc Fesneau, Minister Delegate for Relations with Parliament; Elisabeth Moreno, Minister Delegate for Gender Equality, Rights and Equal Opportunities; Frank Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Attractiveness; Emmanuelle Wargon, Minister Delegate for Housing; Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, Minister Delegate for Transport; Olivier Dussopt, Minister Delegate for Public Accounts; Agnès Panier Runacher, Minister Delegate for Industry; Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Minister Delegate for SMEs, in charge of Tourism, French Nationals Abroad and La Francophonie; Roxana Maracineanu, Minister Delegate for Sports; Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister Delegate for Memory and Veterans Affairs; Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate for Citizenship; Brigitte Klinkert, Minister Delegate for Integration; Nadia Hai, Minister Delegate in charge of the City; Brigitte Bourguignon, Minister Delegate for Autonomy
Gabriel Attal, government spokesperson; Sophie Cluzel, responsible for people with disabilities; Clément Beaune, in charge of European Affairs; Bérangère Abba, in charge of Biodiversity; Sarah El Hairy, in charge of Youth and Engagement; Cédric O, in charge of Digital Transition and Electronic Communications; Olivia Grégoire, responsible for the social, solidarity and responsible economy; Laurent Piétraszewski, in charge of Pensions and Occupational Health; Adrien Taquet, in charge of Children and Families.