The “100 days of appeasement” set by Emmanuel Macron will end in mid-July. As rumors swell about a possible government reshuffle, will Elisabeth Borne still be in office by then?
[Updated June 16, 2023 at 12:16 p.m.] Next July 14 will mark the date of the national holiday, but also the end of the roadmap of the “100 days of appeasement”, announced by Emmanuel Macron last April in order to turn the page on the difficult sequence of retreats. With a big question: will Elisabeth Borne remain at the head of the government until then? “In general, it is certainly not in my DNA to give up,” said the Prime Minister in an interview with Le Figaro published on Wednesday June 14, who then asked her if she regretted occupying this position in the face of the many criticisms it engenders. Last Sunday on France 3, she had already assured “to work in confidence” with the Head of State and that, if there were to be a reshuffle, it was with Emmanuel Macron that she would talk about it and not with the journalists. .
In recent months, there have been many rumors of an upcoming government reshuffle. “The reshuffle will surely take place by early July. In any case, it’s now or in January”, according to a deputy close to Emmanuel Macron contacted by BFMTV, in an article published on Wednesday. The day before, a member of the Head of State’s entourage contacted by franceinfo assured that it would take place “before July 14”. Asked by Europe 1, a relative of Emmanuel Macron speaks, meanwhile, of a “shooting window” between “June 19 and July 10”. If certain members of the government seem very weakened and should not be renewed in the event of a reshuffle – in particular Marlène Schiappa with the revelations of the Marianne fund – the fact that Elisabeth Borne is leaving her post as Prime Minister seems to him, more uncertain.
If the prospect of a reshuffle of the government in the coming weeks seems to be taking shape with more and more certainty, a change at the head of it is far from being recorded. And this, despite sometimes complicated relations with the President of the Republic. “Macron has trouble with her, they are so different. But she unfolds and, above all, he sees that the alternative solutions, like a [Gérald] Darmanin, a [Richard] Ferrand or a [Julien] Denormandie do not allow, at this stage, to respond to its main problem since the legislative elections: the lack of an absolute majority in the hemicycle”, thus confided a close friend of the Head of State to Parisian, in an article published on Sunday.
After having faced, on Monday, a 17th motion of censure filed against his government, which was rejected by the deputies, Emmanuel Macron congratulated the Prime Minister for this success during the Council of Ministers on Wednesday, according to information from BFMTV. “Two weeks ago, he wanted to change prime minister. Today, he is much less enthusiastic,” an adviser to the head of state told the same media. There is indeed nothing to ensure that a new head of government would have the capacity to do better than Elisabeth Borne on the enlargement of the majority in the Assembly. This does not prevent the names of a possible replacement for the Prime Minister from circulating widely in the press in recent days.
If the reshuffle remains, at this stage, only a rumor, just like the departure of Elisabeth Borne in this hypothesis, several names would already be circulating to replace her, as reported by L’Express. Emmanuel Macron could choose his successor within the government itself, by choosing one of his strong men, like Gérald Darmanin or Bruno Le Maire. Among the other personalities appreciated by the Head of State who could take over the post of Elisabeth Borne, are also mentioned the names of Sébastien Lecornu, current Minister of the Armed Forces, or even Julien Denormandie, former Minister of Agriculture. Catherine Vautrin, former minister of Jacques Chirac, is also mentioned. She was already one of the personalities cited to occupy this position in 2022, before Elisabeth Borne was finally appointed to Matignon. Finally, the names of Richard Ferrand, former President of the Assembly who has returned to the private sector since his failure in the legislative elections, and Gérard Larcher, current President LR of the Senate, are among the list of potential replacements for the Prime Minister.
