Macron reshuffles cabinet after poor election showing

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron Friday named a senior bureaucrat to replace Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, whose government resigned after a poor local election showing for the ruling party. The new premier, Jean Castex, officially a member of the right-wing opposition but in charge of overseeing the country’s progressive emergence from coronavirus lockdown, is taking over as Philippe leaves the post after three years, the Elysee Palace announced.

While Philippe’s approval ratings have surged over his handling of the coronavirus crisis, those of Macron, who has pursued ambitious economic reforms since coming to office in 2017, have fallen.

In an interview with regional newspapers published late Thursday, Macron said France must prepare for a “very difficult” economic crisis, “so we have to chart a new course.” “I see this based on an economic, social, environmental and cultural reconstruction,” he said. “Behind this, there will be a new team.”

Philippe, 49, is expected to become the mayor of his hometown of Le Havre, in western France, after he won a large victory in Sunday’s vote. A conservative, former member of The Republicans party, he had joined Macron’s government in May 2017. Serving Macron from the start of his presidency, Philippe has been pushing through a series of controversial overhauls that sparked massive strikes as well as the fierce “yellow vest” antigovernment revolt. The reshuffle comes days after a green wave swept over France in local elections. Macron saw his young centrist party defeated in France’s biggest cities, failing to plant local roots across the country. It was planned even before Sunday’s vote, as Macron’s government faced obstacles and criticism before and during the virus crisis.

As the pandemic was peaking in the country in March and April, authorities came under fire for the lack of masks, tests and medical equipment. Before that, Macron’s pro-business policies, widely seen as favoring the wealthy, had been hampered by the yellow vest economic movement against perceived social injustice. This winter, weeks of strikes and street demonstrations against a planned pension overhaul disrupted the country.

In addition, Macron’s efforts to boost job creation have been swept away by the economic and social consequences of the country’s lockdown.

The government issued a 460 billioneuro ($516.44 billion) emergency package through a state-funded partial activity scheme, tax cuts and other financial aids for businesses, and Macron needs to adapt his policies as France’s economy is expected to shrink by 11% this year. The unemployment rate that fell from 9.2% at the beginning of Macron’s term in 2017 to 7.6% earlier this year – its lowest level since 2008 – is now expected to increase steadily.