The new Prime Minister of France was the deputy head of the presidential administration, Jean Castex. This was stated in the Champs Elysees.

“The President of the Republic appointed Mr. Jean Castex as Prime Minister and instructed him to form a government,” the statement said.

The appointment took place a few hours after the previous cabinet minister, Edouard Philippe, resigned along with the rest of the government.

The resignation of Philippe, who led the government since 2017, was preceded by the municipal elections held in France on June 28, 2020. On them Macron's party “Forward, Republic!” I could not occupy any key posts in local government.

  • Local elections in France
  • © Bertrand GUAY / AFP

At the same time, Edouard Philippe, representing the Republican Party, was elected mayor of Le Havre based on the results of the campaign. As a result, there was a situation in which he was obliged to either resign as prime minister or resign as mayor - combining the posts of city governor and member of the government in France has been prohibited since 2012. Then this norm was abolished by President Francois Hollande, and in 2017 Emmanuel Macron also confirmed the ban on combining posts.

Since Edouard Philippe himself put forward his candidacy for mayoral elections, this gave the French media an occasion to say that political disagreements were brewing between the prime minister and the French president. Philip, in turn, indirectly confirmed the suspicions of journalists, saying in an interview with Paris Normandie that he was ready to assume the duties of mayor of Le Havre and would agree with Macron's decision to replace him as prime minister.

It is worth noting that the future mayor of Le Havre is ahead of Macron in popularity. According to a poll from the French Ifop Institute of Public Opinion published in early June, Philippe's approval rating is 53%, while Macron's is 40%. In the same study, 43% of respondents said they would like to see Philip as head of government, and 33% of the citizens who took part in the survey supported his resignation.

Edouard Philippe, who was appointed prime minister after the election of Macron, proved to be not only an effective manager in the Fifth Republic, where the president performs the main function, but also turned out to be an independent figure to some extent, the head of the Center for French Studies said in an interview with RT Institute of Europe RAS Yuri Rubinsky.

“Edouard Philippe fulfilled his task, implemented major social reforms. But the last stage of Macron’s presidency should be different, because all these reforms were unpopular from the point of view of public opinion, ”the political scientist noted.

In addition, the outcome of the municipal elections showed that the ruling party of the president failed, Rubinsky recalled.

“Under these conditions, Macron decided to offer public opinion a new program. To do this, he needs to recruit new people. In addition, Philip’s victory in Le Havre and the percentage of his approval among the population undoubtedly inspired certain fears for Macron, ”the expert explained.

Viral permutations

Leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Political Sciences Sergei Fedorov, in an interview with RT, noted that the new prime minister, Jean Castex, like Edouard Philippe, represents the Republican Party, not the Marcon movement, but is not a well-known politician.

  • Jean Castex appointed new Prime Minister of France
  • Reuters
  • © Gonzalo Fuentes

In the spring, Macron made Jean Castex responsible for the implementation of the plan to remove the restrictions that were introduced in France due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sergei Fedorov recalled that France had a difficult time suffering the spread of the disease, taking third place in mortality among EU countries.

“Against this background, the opposition quite sharply criticized the government for quarantine policy, there were some contradictions between the president and the prime minister. In addition, Macron was not happy that Philip’s popularity has risen sharply over the past month, while his own ratings have fallen, ”said the expert.

In mid-June, Emmanuel Macron made it clear that after France quarantined, the government’s course of work would be revised. In an appeal to citizens of the country on June 14, in which he announced the lifting of sanitary restrictions, Macron also announced an update in the political course for the remaining two years of his presidency.

“Today Macron needs new personalities, because in the next two years he wants to introduce a new program of action to the country, a course that could turn the page of the difficult three years of his presidency, and, accordingly, successfully approach the new presidential election,” Fedorov added.

According to the French president, the work of the government will be focused on recovery after the coronavirus by creating a socially-oriented economy. At the same time, the president paid special attention to independence from foreign production.

“The only answer is to build a stronger and more sustainable economic model, to work and produce more so as not to depend on others. We should do all this, despite the bankruptcies and numerous cuts that threaten our country as a result of the global economic halt, ”the Financial Times quoted the French leader as saying.

Macron also announced that he intends to decentralize power, giving the regional authorities more opportunities to make important decisions.

“I am deeply convinced that the structure of the state and the organization of our activities must fundamentally change. Not all decisions can be made so often in Paris, ”Macron said.

It is worth noting that in this way Emmanuel Macron, who positioned himself as “neither right or left,” makes a strong turn towards traditionally left-wing political models - an economy focused on the social protection of citizens and local self-government.

In particular, in his appeal, Macron said that the state will make every effort to avoid layoffs and create new jobs. In addition, he announced the reform of the French health care system, which also includes increasing salaries for doctors.

Course change

Experts note that the French leader has chosen the right time to change the course of his presidency and government. Due to unpopular reforms in the social sphere and labor legislation, the first two years of his leadership of the republic were marked by mass protests in which workers from various public sectors took part.

Recall that in 2018, transport employees came out to protest demanding to stop the privatization of the railway monopolist SNCF in accordance with the requirements of the European Union. For the company's employees, the reform turned into a loss of benefits and the status of civil servants. But the protests did not affect the decision of the authorities, and the law on reforming the industry was still adopted by the government and parliament.

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In addition, from November 2018 until mid-March 2020, until sanitary restrictions were introduced in the country due to the coronavirus, mass protests continued under the auspices of the so-called movement of yellow vests in France. The initial reason for the protests was the increase in fuel prices, but subsequently, protesters expanded their demands on the authorities, highlighting the social agenda. But the government did not make serious concessions, agreeing only to postpone the increase in fuel prices.

Yuri Rubinsky noted that a change of government is now needed to smooth out these protest sentiments caused by unpopular reforms.

“Now Macron is creating a new government that would inspire the public that claims on the results of the reforms have been heard and plans for the future are in line with the identified sentiments of citizens. He does all this in order to increase his chances of re-election in 2022, ”the political scientist concluded.