He is the man of paradoxes. As powerful as it is unknown. As influential as it is discreet. Both admired and criticized. Always in the shadows. But always there, no matter what.
From Bercy to the Elysee Palace, Alexis Kohler has been Emmanuel Macron’s right arm for eight years now. Director of the cabinet of the young minister of the economy under François Hollande, this 49-year-old enarque has established himself as the key man of the five-year term which is ending. From “yellow vests”, through the crisis due to Covid-19, the war in Ukraine or the organization of the presidential campaign, the stainless secretary general of the Elysée centralizes and decides all major decisions at the top. state since 2017.
His continued presidency remains one of the key issues for the second five-year term. While Emmanuel Macron, re-elected, intends to replace his Prime Minister, Jean Castex, while very largely renewing his government and his teams at the Elysée, the possibility is agitated that the gray eminence of the President of the Republic lands in Bercy or even at Matignon, during the next reshuffle.
If such a scenario cannot be completely excluded, it is nevertheless considered highly improbable by those who know the head of state best. His relatives are convinced of this: there is no question, for Emmanuel Macron, of doing without the services of his faithful collaborator, on whom he relies for “deal with 90% of the files that he does not have time to manage”. “He needs it too much”judge advisers and ministers, who do not imagine “this duo that works come undone”so long is the decision “hypercentralized” between them.
Validation of a key measure, proofreading of interviews with members of the government, creation of a local support committee for Emmanuel Macron… Within the executive, not a single arbitration – major or minor – goes through the filter of “vice-president”who holds the most power at the top of the state after the « chef ».
Installed in an office next to that of the President of the Republic at the Elysée, Alexis Kohler “holds the house” when the latter is on the move. And discharges it, playing the role of privileged interlocutor with the ministers or the administration. When a member of the government needs to validate a specific point, he can contact « Alexis » or “AK”who will decide for the boss. “He occupies a major place, very important for the ministers: we know that, when he is asked for arbitration, it is that of the President of the Republic”, attests the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire. The only one to have this privilege, it earned Mr. Kohler the title of « Macron bis ».
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