2023-07-20 10:30:09
Emmanuel Macron and the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, on June 18, 2023, during a ceremony at Mont-Valérien (Hauts-de-Seine). ALBERT FACELLY/DIVERGENCE
On the morning of Thursday, July 20, the reshuffle had still not taken place. Between Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne, disagreements filter out into the open. After the Elysée confirmed, by an SMS from his entourage to the press, Monday, July 17, the “maintenance” from the Prime Minister to Matignon, the executive couple scrap on the composition of the new government. “We are reaching the goal”assured an Elysian adviser on the evening of Wednesday July 19, when the ministers were assured that the deal would be concluded at 6 p.m. ” It is going well “, we are satisfied at Matignon, Thursday morning, while discussions are still continuing between the President of the Republic and the head of government. The Council of Ministers, initially scheduled for Wednesday with the new team, postponed for the first time to Thursday 20, was once again postponed, without the Elysée giving a new date.
Read also the editorial of “Le Monde”: Elisabeth Borne, against all odds
Under Emmanuel Macron, since 2017, each team change, from Edouard Philippe to Jean Castex, has stretched over time. This time, after three months of uncertainties maintained at the highest summit of the State, the two houses do not share the same vision of this reorganization which does not say its name. While the Head of State only wants to replace a handful of ministers – Pap Ndiaye (national education), François Braun (health), Jean-Christophe Combe (solidarity) or Marlène Schiappa (social and solidarity economy) – Ms. Borne would like to review the system in depth. Up to fifteen ministers, which would include the spokesperson, Olivier Véran, or the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Franck Riester.
“It’s not a redesign”we insist at the Elysée, but a simple “adjustment”, even though it comes under Article 8 of the Constitution, which provides that the Head of State appoints the members of the government. ” The Constitution does not politically qualify the movements, the executive is still free to use the words it wants to define its action.insists an adviser to Emmanuel Macron, who defends “the logic of the president”. Politics is also a matter of semantics.
“A new kind of cohabitation”
The choice of words reflects the frictions that punctuate the relationship between the President of the Republic and the tenant of Matignon. After having left ambiguity for a long time about the future of Elisabeth Borne, the head of state is struggling to frankly consolidate it. At no time did he repeat his ” trust “ towards the head of government, who has nevertheless demonstrated her resilience in the turmoil. He does not congratulate her during the ministers’ dinner at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday evening. And only once quotes the tenant of Matignon, during the drink with the parliamentarians of the majority, Wednesday evening, in the gardens of the Ministry of Relations with Parliament: “We are counting, with the Prime Minister and the government, on all of you”he concludes in front of his troops.
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