In the midst of a political crisis since the adoption of the immigration law, Emmanuel Macron could choose to replace members of his government to relaunch his five-year term.
The government of Élisabeth Borne falters the day after the adoption of the immigration law which failed to convince the majority with 59 deputies who abstained or voted against. A situation which reflects the tense political climate of recent months where the executive governs with 49.3 and gets entangled in rarely fruitful negotiations with the right. While Emmanuel Macron declared that he wanted the country to “move forward” after the complicated passage of the immigration law, instability reigns within the government. The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, has resigned and his replacement Agnès Firmin Le Bodo is already the target of a scandal. Friday, December 22, she confirmed that she was the subject of an investigation “as part of (her) role as pharmacist”. On Thursday, Mediapart revealed that the minister was “targeted by a judicial investigation opened in June 2023 for having received gifts, without declaring them” from the Urgo laboratory.
Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research, was one of five ministers who announced that they would resign if the immigration law was adopted. On Wednesday December 20, she presented her resignation to Emmanuel Macron due to a “deep disagreement” on the measures concerning foreign students. On Thursday, those around her told AFP that her resignation had been refused and that the minister would remain “in post”. The President of the Republic and the head of government assured Sylvie Retailleau that the measures to which she fiercely opposes will be revised “if they were not censored by the Constitutional Council”.
What emerges is an undeniable impression of political exhaustion, that the government is navigating in a fog depending on circumstances. This kind of climate can quickly take on the appearance of the end of a reign. Emmanuel Macron, who reads the editorials and the newspapers, knows well that the derogatory criticisms are pouring out and that the opposition is outraged every week. Above all, the Head of State cannot continue his mandate as if there was no unease in his majority – affected by the turn taken by the immigration law. Obviously, he cannot continue with this government which seemed to endure, constantly compose or, conversely, multiply, the forceful attacks in front of Parliament. How to re-enthuse your political action?
The president undoubtedly does not have the ambition – disproportionate – to enthuse the French, but he certainly wants to give himself a new lease of life, set a new course, and this requires a change of team. A ministerial reshuffle would even already be in the cards, if we are to believe Europe 1, which is categorical on the subject: “A major reshuffle will take place around January 15”, announced in the media a close friend of the president. The private radio site even assures that there will be “changes of heads at all levels: from Matignon, to ministries, including a certain number of central administrations”. And “the president also intends to reshuffle part of the inner circle of his cabinet at the Élysée”. Enough to send a new message and build a new narrative a few months before the European elections.
According to a leading witness to the Borne-Macron relationship who spoke on Sunday in the columns of JDD, the executive couple would no longer really be on the same wavelength, and only a “change at Matignon, with a sort of new deal that shakes things up” could preserve the end of the five-year term. But who to replace Élisabeth Borne if the current Prime Minister?
For the Sunday newspaper, after pensions and immigration, the objective of full employment could be the political horizon envisaged by Emmanuel Macron to bounce back. And who better than a loyal man with a very political profile to take over the reins of Matignon? If the name of Bruno Le Maire is mentioned by certain observers, echoed by JDDfor the moment, however, everything remains only speculation.