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Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne of France resigned on Monday ahead of a much-anticipated cabinet reshuffle by President Emmanuel Macron, as he seeks to inject new energy into his presidency at the start of a year of major events in France, including the European Parliament elections. and the summer elections. Paris Olympic Games.
Borne, 62, was named prime minister shortly after Macron’s election for a second term in May 2022, and is only the second woman to hold that position.
But his tenure has been marked by political and social unrest – from anger in the streets and in Parliament over pension reform to unrest over the police shooting of a teenager – and Macron appears increasingly determined to appoint a new face. .
Macron’s office said he had accepted Borne’s resignation, little more than a formality given his widely publicized desire to replace her. Borne will continue to deal with “current affairs” until a new cabinet is named, the office said.
“You carried out our project with the courage, commitment and determination of stateswomen.” Mr Macron said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
In his resignation letter, which was shared Speaking to the French media, Borne made it clear that it was Macron who had decided to replace her and suggested that he would have preferred to stay. She noted that her government had passed more than 50 bills in Parliament and that it was “more necessary than ever” to reform France.
“At a time when I must resign from my government, I wanted to tell you how passionate I have been about this mission, guided by our shared concern to achieve quick and tangible results for our fellow citizens,” she wrote.
Prime ministers play an important role in France. Low the Constitution, it is through his leadership that the government “determines and directs the policies of the nation.” They are directly accountable to Parliament (Borne survived dozens of attempts by lawmakers to overthrow her) and oversee much of the day-to-day running of the country.
But presidents hold much more powerful positions, with exclusive prerogatives over foreign policy, and the government’s agenda is usually their own. France’s presidents are directly elected by popular vote every five years and often view their prime ministers as close collaborators or subordinates, not autonomous policymakers.
Macron is expected to name Borne’s replacement on Tuesday morning.
Several of his current or former ministers have emerged as contenders in recent days, including Sébastien Lecornu, his defense minister; Julien Denormandie, Macron’s former agriculture minister, who helped start his political movement; and Gabriel Attal, another old ally who is currently Minister of Education.
Borne, a stern but hard-working technocrat and daughter of an Auschwitz survivor who rarely spoke about her personal life, loyally and obediently carried out Macron’s agenda.
She spent 20 months in office, twice as long as Édith Cresson, the only other woman to hold the position, from May 1991 to April 1992, and shepherded dozens of Macron’s bills through Parliament, including one to protect French consumers from inflation. , tighten rules on unemployment benefits or develop nuclear energy.
But Borne was forced to work with a fractured lower house of parliament, where Macron’s centrist alliance does not control an outright majority, causing serious headaches for her political ambitions.
Ms. Borne was nicknamed “Madame 49.3” in the French media in reference to the constitutional tool she used on more than 20 occasions during her term to pass bills in the lower house without a vote (mainly budget measures, but the majority in particular the very unpopular pension reform, which raised the legal retirement age.
More recently, Borne had to reach a deal with right-wing conservatives over a tough immigration law that put his government at a disadvantage and upset some of his own ministers, leading one to resign.
The episode raised questions about his ability to navigate parliament and sparked weeks of speculation that Macron would shake up his cabinet after the new year.
Borne was Macron’s first left-leaning prime minister, after several years as a low-key member of his cabinet, as minister of transport, environment and, finally, labour.
On Monday, some opponents praised her as a pioneer. Valérie Pécresse, right-wing candidate against Macron in the 2022 elections, thanked him on social networks “for embodying feminine power with dignity and courage.”
But many others criticized her for following Macron to the extreme.
“Elisabeth Borne served Emmanuel Macron to the point of losing himself,” said Cyrielle Chatelain, a senior Green lawmaker. on social networks.