MARISOL TOURAINE. Former Minister of Health of François Hollande, Marisol Touraine is cited as one of the probable successors of Jean Castex at Matignon. Does she have the right profile?
Who to succeed Prime Minister Jean Castex, who will resign in the coming days? The rumors are rife. For a few days, the name of Marisol Touraine has been coming back as a credible hypothesis, among members of the presidential camp. Hypothesis relayed by RTL Tuesday, May 10, then by RMC the next day. In reality, if Emmanuel Macron has made his choice, it remains a well-kept secret. But Marisol Touraine ticks well and truly several boxes likely to tip the Head of State in her favour.
Tuesday, May 10, the management of La République en Marche and its allies organized a training day bringing together all the legislative candidates invested by the presidential majority. It was on this occasion that the journalists of RTL and RMC collected the predictions of many members of the Macron camp. According to the two media, two names came up everywhere: that of Audrey Azoulay, the president of Unesco … and that of Marisol Touraine. Several macronists noted the presence of the latter in the front row during the investiture of Emmanuel Macron, Saturday, May 7. “She is gaining momentum in Macronie”, also confides a relative of Marisol Touraine to RMC, adding: “She is very smiling and oddly she has become difficult to reach.”
What is Marisol Touraine’s background?
Marisol Touraine is best known for having been Minister of Social Affairs and Health, during the entire five-year term of François Hollande (2012-2017). A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and Harvard, agrégé in economics and social sciences, she began her career at the secretariat of economics and social sciences, an interministerial body under the authority of Matignon. She was then adviser to Prime Minister Michel Rocard, before being appointed to the Council of State by François Mitterrand. Marisol Touraine was also national secretary of the PS, and elected deputy four times.
Why does Marisol Touraine have the profile of a new Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron?
Asked about his intentions, Emmanuel Macron hinted that he wanted to appoint a person with a “social and ecological” fiber. A left-wing personality, therefore, preferably. In his entourage, we repeat his intention to appoint a woman, 30 years after Edith Cresson’s short stint at Matignon. Woman, left, Marisol Touraine ticks both boxes. Let us add that she has supported Emmanuel Macron since 2017: in the last legislative elections, she had presented herself unsuccessfully under the banner “presidential majority”, although she had not been invested by LREM. This year, Marisol Touraine supported the outgoing president in the presidential election from February 2022: in the columns of the Parisianshe then assures that Emmanuel Macron is “the only one who has the solidity to face the challenges and carry a positive vision of the future”.
Could Marisol Touraine work with the Macron camp? In any case, Eric Woerth, LR deputy recently rallied to the presidential majority, was already saying about her in 2012, in the Figaro : “She has character but we can talk to her.” Adding: “She is devoured by ambition and very pragmatic.” Enough to accept a post as Prime Minister from Emmanuel Macron?