DFor a few days, her relatives have been on the lookout for the slightest clue about the identity of the lucky girl. Because this time “my only certainty, my presentiment, is that it will be a woman at Matignon”, affirms a close friend of the president. More than three weeks after his re-election, Emmanuel Macron is preparing to announce the name of Jean Castex’s successor as Prime Minister. A priori Monday or Tuesday, let us know. “He decided”, indicates an elected official at the heart of the negotiations. Those who have spoken with the Head of State since the middle of last week have indeed felt “that things were stalled”. “But when I test it, I can’t get any information,” exasperated one of his followers.
Only the very first circle – as well as the person concerned – knows about it. The secretary general of the Élysée, Alexis Kohler, is in the confidence, as well as Jean Castex, current holder of the post. His wife, Brigitte Macron, is also probably informed. All the others sail in full fog. Some dropped out. “The last time, until the day before the announcement, I was sure that he was going to keep Édouard Philippe! Laughs a manager who has his entrances to the Elysée.
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Worse, by evaluating the names circulating in the press and in the corridors of power, these gentlemen cannot help making a few unpleasant comments. Notice to the Prime Minister: despite a power that claims to be “progressive”, misogyny is far from having disappeared… “The herd of women is not numerous, we quickly go around it”, grimaces the one of them, little inspired by the profiles supposed to hold the rope.
Political overtaking
Elisabeth Borne, 61, has been approached for several months. Polytechnician, former prefect of the Poitou-Charentes region, ex-leader of the RATP, the sexagenarian who claims a social fiber is renowned for her authority and her seriousness in macronie. Former chief of staff of Ségolène Royal, the macronist has held several key ministries since 2017, from Transport to Labor, through the Ecological Transition. Never elected but a candidate in the legislative elections in Calvados, Elisabeth Borne has the favors of Alexis Kohler. “A techno, an academic profile, continuity”, summarizes one in the entourage of Emmanuel Macron. However, the president would be keen to “pursue political overcoming” by appointing a personality who would not come directly from his majority. And lately, observes a power strategist, “Elisabeth Borne has not been associated with anything politically”. If not Matignon, this “dreaded” woman could recover a sovereign position like Beauvau or the Armies.
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There is also Valérie Létard, UDI senator from the North, aged 59, whose name was widely circulated at the end of the week. A “baby Borloo”, sums up an elected official who knows her well, former secretary of state in charge of “green technologies and climate negotiations” in the government of Nicolas Sarkozy. This centrist local elected official, a social worker by training, close to Xavier Bertrand, supported Valérie Pécresse to the end in the presidential election and got involved in the legislative campaign of the Republican candidates in her department. In May 2017, Emmanuel Macron had offered her the Ministry of Housing and the City, which she had refused. “She is not nice, she has never given signs and has no humor”, curries a senator from the majority. “She is good, but soft in the knee, a little light and not very charismatic”, describes a former elected representative from the region.
Catherine Vautrin, the favorite
Third option and probably the strongest: Catherine Vautrin. The boss of the metropolis of Reims, ex-LR who joined Emmanuel Macron in February, is essential in the eyes of the bookmakers. The former vice-president of the National Assembly, 61, minister under Jacques Chirac, is strongly pushed by Sébastien Lecornu and Thierry Solère, the duo of influencers from the right who gravitate around the president. They praise in particular his mastery of Parliament, at a time when the ranks of La France insoumise and the National Rally could gain ground after the June election. “The president is watching very closely, it can be permanent parliamentary guerrilla warfare, or even the total blocking of the institution,” confides an intimate. Problem: since Friday, Catherine Vautrin has suffered a barrage from several figures of historical macronie, in particular because of her fight against marriage for all, in 2013. “For me, it is not even possible. It’s just fuel for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, ”claws a pillar of the majority.
I don’t understand where this leads, if not to disasterA pillar of the majority
If one of these three officials is actually appointed “all this will end very badly”, observes this same interlocutor, while many were those around the president, to plead to promote a major personality. “I don’t understand where this is leading, if not to disaster. “There is no doubt that in the home stretch, the phones must heat up. The composition of the government is expected in the wake of the transfer of power to Matignon. During the last reshuffle, in July 2020, Emmanuel Macron received 300 SMS per day. Service offers, as well as opinions to try to influence their choice. At the very last moment, the casting had also moved, Gérald Darmanin having won for Beauvau late.
profound change
“This time, absolutely no one is safe, the change will be very profound”, believes a regular interlocutor of the Head of State. The fate of Bruno Le Maire, among others, is up in the air. The president warned his close team: “there will be people very outside of our ecosystem who can return, and whom we will have to brief quickly”. On the civil society side, the writer Rachel Kahn and the sportsman Brahim Asloum are approached. Emmanuel Macron is also looking for heavyweights. Former Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve reportedly refused to enter government. Yannick Jadot, ex-candidate in the presidential election, could recover a portfolio related to ecology. “The government can be a new moment to work the beam of political recomposition, slips an adviser. There will also be innovations on the ministerial perimeters, we want to break the shackles and the logic of silos. Ecology will color the second term. The president has the faith of new converts, he has immersed himself in this subject and can take real turns. »