Manuel Valls was appointed Minister of Overseas under François Bayrou. A surprising choice but not an anomaly.
It’s the chef’s surprise! After days of negotiations, pressure and compromise, the new government was announced this Monday, December 23. One name, among all those cited by Alexis Kohler, secretary general of the Elysée, particularly attracted attention: that of Manuel Valls. The former Prime Minister of François Hollande (2014-2016) is back in business, not at Matignon, but with a ministry at the heart of the news: that of Overseas Territories.
At 62, the man who was also Minister of the Interior (2012-2014) returns to a government and could, in the eyes of François Bayrou, act as a left-wing guarantor within his team. For the tenant of Matignon only because the unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Barcelona (2019) has since rallied behind Emmanuel Macron and distanced himself from the Socialist Party and the alliance formed with the other formations of the New Popular Front.
Support of the President of the Republic during the 2017 and 2022 campaigns, he was invested by LREM for the 2022 legislative elections in the 5e constituency of French people established outside France (Andorra, Monaco, Spain, Portugal), but had been eliminated from 1er round.
Criticism of Macron on New Caledonia, favorable to land rights in Mayotte
Present in the public debate without holding office, Manuel Valls ended up establishing himself with François Bayrou. The two men are political savvy, have known each other for a long time and mutually appreciate each other. Above all, the former mayor of Evry has sent several signals recently regarding the portfolio he has just inherited.
Responsible for the New Caledonia file when he was at Matignon, Manuel Valls did not fail to scratch Emmanuel Macron during the riots this fall. “The responsibility of the President of the Republic is widely engaged,” he said in The Parisian. For him, “it will obviously be necessary to revise the electoral lists and abandon any idea of partitioning the island”, he defended.
On Mayotte – where Cyclone Chido devastated everything – there was already a question of immigration when planning the reconstruction of the island. Manuel Valls does not agree. He opposes the abolition of land rights in Mayotte, “useless and dangerous” according to him. Bruno Retailleau nevertheless defends it. During October, on the plateau of TV5 Worldhe also ordered them to “act” on the purchasing power of the overseas population.
Furthermore, the Overseas Territories are also a territory rather favorable to Manuel Valls. In 2017, it was in these territories that he obtained his best results as a candidate in the socialist primary for the presidential election. It must be said that the former elected official never made any hostile remarks towards the locals, Mayotte or others, and had rolled out a series of 35 measures “for a new lease of life in overseas territories”. Will he manage to implement them?