Some in government have detected a pride “put under the table”, welcoming the self-sacrifice of the minister. Monday evening, June 27, Brigitte Bourguignon was in the RTL studios to ” ask ” to the French, “out of civic duty” vis-à-vis vulnerable populations, to put the mask back on public transport. The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to flare up again. So even though the Minister of Health knows that her days on Avenue Duquesne are numbered, here she is ready to take on one of the worst roles in her ministry. The last, no doubt.
Emmanuel Macron confirmed it on Saturday during an interview with Agence France-Presse: by reiterating his confidence in the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, the Head of State entrusted the Matignon tenant with the mission of carrying out the consultations with opposition forces to wrest a majority in Parliament on a series of projects and form a “government of action”. Clearly, the reshuffle expected since the disappointment of the presidential camp in the legislative elections will not be long. A matter of days. Weeks, at most.
After its failure on June 19, Brigitte Bourguignon, like Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister for Ecological Transition, and Justine Benin, Secretary of State for the Sea, will have to leave the government. It is the rule. Yaël Braun-Pivet, elected President of the National Assembly on Tuesday, also leaves her place at the Ministry of Overseas. The other ministers are still unaware of their fate. Renewed? Promoted? Ousted? Mystery. The outcome of the negotiations with the opposition forces will perhaps lead Elisabeth Borne to invite representatives of other political families to the next government, without anyone yet knowing the extent of the upheavals. A game of musical chairs is brewing.
“There are still ministers who work”
In the meantime, there reigns within the government the feeling of a suspended time. Like that of a false start given to Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term since his re-election on April 24. The subject of pension reform, at the heart of the presidential campaign, is eluded. As for the work of the National Refoundation Council, supposed to illustrate Emmanuel Macron’s “new method”, it has been postponed indefinitely.
“The reality is that we are in an in-between, not quite in action, not totally waiting”nuance Roland Lescure, deputy of the French people abroad La République en Marche (LRM, renamed Renaissance). “There are still ministers who work”he points.
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