Catherine Vautrin. Who will replace Jean Castex? Catherine Vautrin was the favorite for Matignon, but her appointment aroused virulent opposition in the majority.
[Mis à jour le 16 mai 2022 à 16h48] Could Catherine Vautrin be the new head of government? Mentioned as one of the favorites to settle in Matignon this Monday, May 16, the president of the metropolis of Reims could see the post of Prime Minister escape her. Her political career is her greatest asset, ten years sitting in the National Assembly, nine of which being vice-president of the hemicycle, but also several experiences as a minister in the Raffarin and De Villepinte governments. But where Catherine Vautrin sins, it is on her rather right-wing political positioning, too much according to certain elected representatives of the majority who recall in particular her participation in the Manif pour tous in 2013. “We are going to take it in the face” fears an adviser of camp of Emmanuel Macron who points to a choice “strategically […] surprising” on BFM TV. Another gets carried away on the same channel: “It’s nonsense … And if Macron persists, I will continue to say it” always with the news channel continuously. The media, always very well informed when the reshuffles are imminent, adds that “the Catherine Vautrin hypothesis at Matignon has lead in the wing”.
A few hours later, the violent and repeated criticism of the majority against the appointment of Catherine Vautrin to the post of Prime Minister bore fruit since, according to RTL and RMC, the Head of State would have reviewed his copy and renounced the appointment of the former deputy in favor of other names already mentioned. Target of criticism, the president of Grand Reims, close to Nicolas Sarkozy, also lacks the “environmental fiber” demanded by Emmanuel Macron for the next five-year term. A close friend of the Head of State confides to RTL that the Prime Minister will be “a woman of consensus”, which seems to exclude Catherine Vautrin. If she is no longer a favorite, Catherine Vautrin is still in the running until the official announcement of the name of the future Prime Minister, this Monday May 16 around 5 p.m. according to France info.
Catherine Vautrin appointed to the post of Prime Minister?
Does the Head of State hold in the person of Catherine Vautrin his new Prime Minister, who will be appointed in the hours or days to come? “The unity of the executive couple is essential. I think that there needs to be a philosophical understanding and a proximity of values between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister”, estimated this Monday, May 16 François Bayrou, close to Emmanuel Macron and undoubtedly consulted during this period of reorganization. If it is essential, the link between Catherine Vautrin and Emmanuel Macron is not obvious and could hardly send the strong signal of a rally promised by the Head of State. Yet François Bayrou’s comment says it all: this choice must be one of clarity. It remains to be seen what clear message the President of the Republic wants to send at the dawn of his second term, which he wishes to be different from the first, conducted with two Prime Ministers from the right.
Comments regarding the appointment of former deputy Catherine Vautrin to Matignon are so virulent in the ranks of the majority that the head of state is exposing himself to a real revolt. The politician appears too right-wing to claim the post of Prime Minister in the eyes of many, yet other arguments support the appointment of the former Republican. Several journalists closely following the majority agree on one point: Emmanuel Macron has been made aware, in recent days, to take his appointment into consideration. An ideal choice, even for two of his closest political advisers, Thierry Solère and Sébastien Cornu. Catherine Vautrin is presented as a woman of experience: former member of the government before the Sarkozy era, former vice-president of the National Assembly, president of an important community, the urban community of Grand Reims: a know-how of terrain reconciled with an acute knowledge of the mysteries of national power and Parliament. And if the new majority is fragile, such a profile could prove useful for Emmanuel Macron who will need party discipline or consensus on many major reforms for him.
Let us add that, if Catherine Vautrin comes from the Republicans, she supported Emmanuel Macron in February 2022. In the columns of the Cross, she then declared: “Today the Republican right lacks the ability to respond to major issues such as global warming, economic independence and the future of Europe. This horizon of hope is no longer supported by my original political family. I had not taken the plunge in 2017. end of this five-year term, I no longer have any doubts.”
Catherine Vautrin presents at the Manif pour tous, indelible conservative stigma?
The relative of Nicolas Sarkozy held and defended very conservative positions during the ten years she spent in the National Assembly. In 2013, the deputy had opposed the law authorizing same-sex marriages and had marched several times in the processions of the Manif pour tous, a political choice which still leaves traces in 2022 when the doors of Matignon could be closed. open in front of Catherine Vautrin. “We are far from the progressive values praised by the President”, launches a framework of the majority in The Parisian, visibly chilled at the idea of seeing politics become Prime Minister. “For me, it’s not even conceivable. It’s just fuel for Jean-Luc Mélenchon. I don’t understand where it leads, except to disaster”, also abounds a pillar of the majority in Point.