PARIS (Reuters) – Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented her resignation and that of her government to Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the Elysée announced in a press release which did not specify the name of her successor.
Elisabeth Borne “ensures, with members of the government, the handling of current affairs until the appointment of the new government”, indicates the presidency.
The name of the new Prime Minister is not yet known but that of Gabriel Attal, current Minister of National Education and former government spokesperson, comes up insistently. Gabriel Attal, 34, would become, if he is appointed by Emmanuel Macron, the youngest Prime Minister in the history of the Fifth Republic.
The names of Sébastien Lecornu, 37 years old, current Minister of the Armed Forces, and Julien Denormandie, 43 years old, loyal to Emmanuel Macron from the start and former minister, are also mentioned.
The adoption of the very controversial immigration law has weakened the government of Elisabeth Borne, and the President of the Republic had promised at the end of December a “new course” that the new Prime Minister will be responsible for embodying six months before the European elections of June 9.
“Madame Prime Minister, dear @Elisabeth_Borne, your work in the service of our Nation has been exemplary every day,” wrote Emmanuel Macron on the X platform (formerly Twitter). “You implemented our project with the courage, commitment and determination of women of state. With all my heart, thank you.”
Elisabeth Borne, appointed in May 2022, was the second woman to occupy this position after Édith Cresson.
The former prefect allowed the adoption of several delicate texts, including pension reform and that relating to immigration, which shook the presidential camp last month.
She used article 49-3 of the Constitution 23 times to have budgetary texts adopted without a vote, in particular.
In her resignation letter, Elisabeth Borne deemed it “more necessary than ever to continue reforms in order to give everyone within the Republic a chance and prospects and to build a stronger and fairer France in a more sovereign Europe” .
(Writing by Kate Entringer Elizabeth Pineau and Tangi Salaün, edited by Zhifan Liu and Blandine Hénault)
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