Jean Castex, at the Elysée Palace, May 19, 2020. - Gonzalo Fuentes / AP / SIPA

  • Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister Jean Castex continued their consultations on Sunday with "the objective of forming a new government for Monday in the day," announced the Elysee.
  • Like Jean Castex, could the future government be made up more of personalities from "territories"?
  • "Local roots are a virtue that will most certainly be valued," analyzes Daniel Boy, research director at Sciences Po Paris.

Form the new government "as soon as possible". This is the goal of the last days of Emmanuel Macron and the new Prime Minister, Jean Castex, in order to apply a recovery plan in the face of the economic and social crisis, before the presidential election of 2022. Expected this Sunday, the new government must finally be unveiled this Monday with about twenty ministers and deputy ministers.

The new Prime Minister, ex-deputy secretary general of Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace, was so far a member of LR, elected mayor of Prades (Pyrénées-Orientales) in 2008 under the UMP label. "Mister deconfinement" as he was qualified after his designation on April 6, to coordinate the national deconfinement strategy is seen as endowed with a solid "local anchoring". “A mayor from the south, from the rural world, comes to replace a mayor from the north of the Loire, from a large industrial, maritime city. So is France, in its diversity. But that we must more than ever reunited, reconciled, "announced Friday Jean Castex, during the handover with Edouard Philippe.

"Territories" rather than "technos"?

Jean Castex has already indicated that he will receive the majority parliamentarians on Monday evening and that he is planning a general policy speech "before mid-July". In the meantime, what profile for the members of this future government team? Out of the "start-up nation" of the first hours, make way for women and men of "ground" for this new act of the quinquennium?

“The composition of my team will correspond to the priorities that we set for ourselves; it is not a casting, it is a political choice and it must meet a skill requirement, "he said in the columns of the JDD this Sunday. The reshuffle promises to be "large-scale", according to the entourage of the Head of State, requested by AFP ensuring that there will be "new talents" and "personalities from different backgrounds". And like Jean Castex, could the government be more composed of personalities from "territories" rather than "techno"? For Daniel Boy, director of research at Sciences po Paris, this choice could indeed be strategic and judicious.

“Local roots are a virtue that will most certainly be valued”

“When we make a government, it is a composition, a table, which must respect all colors. And anchoring is one. Local roots are a virtue that will certainly be valued, ”he analyzes from 20 Minutes . According to him, this seems "important" because "the error of Emmanuel Macron in his first part of the five-year term is to have short-circuited the unions, associations, mayors, the local. And he realized that it was crucial and, moreover, Jean Castex typically has the profile of a local elected official ”.

One week after the second round of the municipal elections, the future government team could therefore partly rely on people who have acquired political experience thanks to the local level. For example, the name of the mayor of Angers (Maine-et-Loire) Christophe Béchu comes up regularly. Like that of the deputy for Savoy and president of the Modem group in the National Assembly, Patrick Mignola.

Daniel Boy agrees: “The French have more confidence in the local than the national elites. It would be a mistake not to show that we care about that. In any case, even if it is not a major recruitment criterion, local experience is a real plus ”.

"The State has every interest in relying on this local fabric"

For Villes de France, an association of elected representatives which brings together the cities and agglomerations of France, and which represents cities of 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants and their intermunicipal associations, this strategy would be "good news".

"There seems to be a government taking shape more closely with local elected officials," reacts Bastien Régnier, director general of Villes de France, contacted by 20 Minutes . “We see that there is a desire to take better account of the territories and to listen to them. With the coronavirus, local authorities have shown that they are able to respond to the crisis on practical matters. So the state has every interest in relying on this local fabric, "he continues.

“Mayors are partners. It is necessary to give them a more flexible framework for action which allows them to support the initiatives of actors on the ground. Territories are laboratories of innovation, ”declared a few weeks ago, the president of the association and mayor of Beauvais, Caroline Cayeux. According to Bastien Régnier, in addition to this strategy of "diversifying" a government team, Emmanuel Macron could also soon take one more step in favor of deconcentration with "prefects who manage more with communities".

Politics

The new government composed of twenty ministers "scheduled for Monday" announces the Elysée

Politics

Government: With Jean Castex at Matignon, Emmanuel Macron takes over the reins

  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Elysium
  • Matignon
  • Reshuffle
  • Jean Castex