Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal removed some notable members of the government in this reshuffle. And a few weak links.
The fate of certain ministers made little mystery in this reshuffle. Weakened in their position due to their public deviations from Emmanuel Macron’s line or even personal legal disputes, their departure did not come as a surprise. On the other hand, other former members of the executive leave their functions without obvious explanations, their ouster undoubtedly responding to a need for the Head of State to give guarantees of renewal.
Three ministers were in an ejection seat
Among the expected departures, that of Rima Abdul Malak. The Minister of Culture had been one of the dissonant voices within the government at the time of the immigration law. Her speech in the Depardieu affair, in December, announcing the opening of a “disciplinary procedure” with a view to the withdrawal of the Legion of Honor, had earned her the opportunity to be publicly reframed by the Head of State . By finally replacing Rima Abdul Malak with Rachida Dati, Emmanuel Macron achieved a political blow that looked like a snub to LR.
Another predictable change, at the Ministry of Labor. Olivier Dussopt is leaving the government, which he joined in November 2017 as Secretary of State for Public Accounts. Remaining faithful to the Macronist line, the minister was however suspended from a court decision concerning his trial for “complicity in favoritism”. The head of state will not have waited for the verdict to part ways with Dussopt, whose ministry is absorbed into a larger portfolio entrusted to Catherine Vautrin.
Finally, the departure of Agnès Firmin Le Bodo surprised no one. The short-lived Minister of Health took office in December to act as interim minister after the resignation of Aurélien Rousseau. Since then, Médiapart has revealed that it was the subject of an investigation for conflict of interest. His ministry was also sucked in by that of Catherine Vautrin.
Two loyal Macronists leave the government
As for more surprising changes, Emmanuel Macron and Gabriel Attal separate from Olivier Véran. The government spokesperson, known to the general public since his time at the Ministry of Health in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, has however not made any notable deviation in his conduct. However, his departure should not mark the end of his journey with Macron, since his name is already being rumored to take the head of the Renaissance list in the European elections.
Another former member of the Macronian executive, Franck Riester is also sidelined by this reshuffle. He is leaving his position as Minister Delegate in charge of Relations with Parliament, having joined the government in 2018 at the Ministry of Culture.
Ministers awaiting the second phase of the reshuffle
Also joining at this stage, the Minister for Equality between Women and Men Bérangère Couillard, replaced by Aurore Bergé. Here again, no obvious reason for this reshuffle. “I spoke to the Prime Minister on the phone, this change is political but not personal, he told me, and he assured me that a new position of delegate minister or secretary of state will be available to me. proposed at the end of next week”, the outgoing minister informed France 3. Likewise, after the abolition of the Ministry of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher should recover a position of Minister Delegate for Health in the coming days.
Several members of the government are thus suspended from the announcement of the second phase of the reshuffle. The fate of Clément Beaune raises questions in particular. Arriving in government in 2020, the Minister of Transport from the left led the charge against the immigration law within the executive. If the Transport portfolio has not yet been reassigned, a tweet from Clément Beaune published Friday on X, in which he says he is “proud to have been minister for three and a half years”, seriously questions his future.