Paris, (EFE).- The French president, Emmanuel Macron, remodeled his government on Thursday to try to give it a new impetus after the pension crisis and the riots with eight new members and, above all, with more political profiles in Education and Health.
In a statement, the Élysée presented the new composition of the Executive, in which the heads of the most political departments and the Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, do not change, and which will hold its first Council of Ministers on Friday.
Relevant changes in Education and Health
The main changes are that of the head of Education, the historian of Senegalese origin Pap Ndiaye, who will be replaced by the until now Minister of Finance, Gabriel Attal -a close friend of Macron who is only 34 years old-, and that of the Minister of Health, François Braun, replaced by Aurélien Rousseau, who was Borne’s cabinet director.
Rousseau, 46 years old and a communist militant in his youth, has a long career as a senior civil servant trained at the prestigious National School of Administration (ENA).
Between 2020 and 2022, he was on the front line of the fight against the covid crisis as director of the regional health agency for the Paris region.
For almost two years (2015-2017) he was deputy director of the socialist prime ministers Manuel Valls and Bernand Cazeneuve and since May 2022 he has served as chief of staff for Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, whom Macron has finally confirmed in office despite the tensions of recent months.
Among the new faces of the Executive are also Thomas Cazenave in the Treasury portfolio, the mayor of the city of Dunkirk Patrice Vergriete in Housing or the deputy Aurore Bergé in Solidarity and Families.
Macron will address the French
Once the new cabinet is presented, Macron must address the French in a format yet to be determined between now and next Sunday, when he begins a week-long trip to Oceania.
It is about taking stock of the 100 days of action since the promulgation of the controversial pension reform, which is going to progressively delay the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years, which gave rise to social protests between January and May.
It will also draw a political line for the coming months in a political context that continues to be marked by the fact that Macron does not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly to adopt his legislative projects and needs support from parties that are not part of his government.
