Elisabeth Borne. Elisabeth Borne finishes consulting the Assembly groups this Wednesday before deciding whether she will ask the Assembly for a vote of confidence. But hopes of a government agreement are waning.
[Mis à jour le 29 juin 2022 à 16h21] “At this stage, nothing has been decided and all the options are on the table”, indicated Matignon in the morning, concerning the possibility that Elisabeth Borne submits to a vote of confidence in the Assembly. Pressed by the opposition, which contests her legitimacy, the Prime Minister will not lightly promise to call a vote that could overthrow her government. The decree published this morning in the official journal does not announce any question of confidence following Elisabeth Borne’s speech in Parliament scheduled for July 5. However, questioned by the press this morning during her visit to family planning, Borne affirmed that she would make her decision “after consultations” with the presidents of the groups in the Assembly.
The last interviews take place this Wednesday, with the presidents of the communist, rebellious, RN and independent groups. This morning, with the communist André Chassaigne, Elisabeth Borne encountered a new door closed to any government agreement: “There was never any question of a coalition, nor of returning to the government”, declared the deputy while leaving Matignon, while by promising to “put forward proposals, work on the texts submitted to us, vote on what can go in the right direction and firmly oppose what is regressive or insufficient”. A story close to that of the group presidents consulted in recent days.
Elisabeth Borne confirmed 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”.
Elisabeth Borne is mandated by the President of the Republic to “explore” with the opposition parties “the degree of cooperation to which they are ready”. Between now and the return of Emmanuel Macron from abroad, scheduled for Thursday, the Prime Minister must also make proposals concerning “the composition of a new government of action at the service of France”. From then on, Elisabeth Borne relaunched consultations with the presidents of the Assembly groups. The objective, posted in a letter on Monday, is to identify the “essential points of convergence and disagreement”. But according to the Prime Minister’s entourage, there is still hope of finding government agreements. She met on Monday June 27 the presidents of the three groups of the presidential majority: Aurore Bergé (Renaissance), Jean-Paul Mattéi (Modem) and Laurent Marcangeli (Horizons).
Tuesday, June 28, Elisabeth Borne faced the opposition. She spoke with Olivier Marleix, president of the LR group. 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. Consultations continued with Boris Vallaud (PS), then Julien Bayou and Cyrielle Chatelain (EELV). On this side too, no visible opening: “NWe note that with Elisabeth Borne our vision of Emmanuel Macron’s balance sheet, of the social situation and of the solutions to be proposed is clearly opposed”, declared Cyrielle Chatelain on Twitter following the interview. Elisabeth Borne receives this Wednesday Mathilde Panot, for LFI, and Marine Le Pen for the RN, even if Emmanuel Macron has ruled out any government agreement with these two parties.
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.