Yahoo – AFP,
Adam PLOWRIGHT, Clare BYRNE, May 17, 2017
 |
| Emmanuel Macron wants to create a new centrist force in French politics (AFP Photo/YOAN VALAT) |
Paris (AFP)
- French President Emmanuel Macron appointed his first cabinet on Wednesday
mixing Socialists, centrists and rightwingers with newcomers to politics as he
pressed ahead with plans to create a broad governing coalition.
The new
cabinet of 22 people meets campaign pledges of being smaller than its
predecessors and having gender parity, with European lawmaker Sylvie Goulard
landing the prestigious defence portfolio.
She will
take over from veteran Socialist Jean-Yves Le Drian who will move over to
foreign affairs, while rightwinger Bruno Le Maire was appointed economy
minister.
Other key
figures instrumental in Macron's sensational victory in this month's election
were given senior roles, with the Socialist mayor of Lyon, Gerard Collomb,
named as interior minister while centrist ally Francois Bayrou becomes justice
minister.
Macron and
his centre-right prime minister Edouard Philippe faced a tricky balancing act
in choosing their first government, with 39-year-old Macron needing to keep his
allies happy while opening up positions to Philippe's rightwing Republicans
party.
France's
youngest ever president wants to create a new centrist force in French politics
-- at the expense of the traditional Socialist and Republicans parties -- which
will be put to the test in parliamentary elections next month.
Without a
parliamentary majority, he will find it hard to push through his ambitious
plans to loosen France's strict labour laws, boost entrepreneurship and reduce
class sizes in tough neighbourhoods.
'Sewing
up' the middle ground
His
appointment of Le Maire as economy minister and fellow Republicans MP Gerald
Darmanin as public accounts minister was seen as an attempt to neuter his
right-wing opponents, still reeling from their defeat in the presidential vote.
Republicans
secretary general, Bernard Accoyer, said Le Maire and Darmanin had been
excluded from the party for accepting Macron's outstretched hand and accused
Macron of trying to "sew up the democratic debate" by poaching from
his rivals.
In the
opposite camp, the Socialists have shown greater readiness to work with Macron,
who quit the departing Socialist government to run for president.
But Le
Drian was one of only two outgoing ministers to be kept on, reflecting Macron's
desire for a fresh approach.
Besides
seasoned politicians, his team features several new faces drawn from the
sports, arts and NGO worlds.
Olympic
fencing champion Laura Flessel was named sports minister, star environmentalist
Nicolas Hulot -- who had spurned multiple offers of cabinet roles from previous
presidents -- accepted the ecology brief and crusading publisher Francoise
Nyssen took charge of culture.
The health,
education and transport portfolios also went to newcomers, all of them experts
in their field.
The
far-right National Front dismissed the changes as window-dressing, accusing
Macron of "recycling" politicians from the mainstream left and right.
The
announcement of the line-up was delayed by 24 hours on Tuesday, with the
presidency saying it needed more time to carry out more extensive screening of
candidates.
Macron has
promised a new law introducing higher ethical standards for lawmakers as one of
his first pieces of legislation and was keen to avoid possible embarrassments,
aides said.
Former
president Francois Hollande was left red-faced by revelations in 2012 that his
budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, a plastic surgeon, had a bank account in
Switzerland where he had hidden income from tax authorities.
EU
priority
In his busy
first week, Macron is also set to meet EU Council President Donald Tusk in
Paris later Wednesday as he tackles his top foreign priority of reforming the
European Union.
Tusk was
one of the first prominent European voices to congratulate Macron on his May 7
presidential election runoff victory over far-right and anti-EU politician
Marine Le Pen.
Macron, who
ran a staunchly pro-European campaign, kept with tradition by visiting German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in his first trip abroad after taking
office.
The pair
now at the centre of the European project vowed to give it new impetus, saying
they were ready to change treaties if necessary.
Macron has
urged a deepening of the EU to fight off a recent surge of populism on the
continent.
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