Macron Taps Jean Castex to Be France's New Prime Minister in Reshuffle

Emmanuel Macron made an unexpected choice to inject momentum into his presidency: Tapping a conservative and former aide of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean Castex. After a disastrous showing in June municipal elections, the French president picked a fresh face in the political scene and pushed aside a potential rival, Edouard Philippe, who is a popular figure among voters.

This is the first announcement of what promises to be a major reshuffle of Macron’s cabinet and comes as the French president is trying to reinvent himself in time for re-election.

“The president’s decision to replace the popular Edouard Philippe with the little known center-right politician Jean Castex as prime minister suggests that Macron wants to be perceived as entirely in control of government policy in the months leading up to the 2022 presidential election,” Antonio Barroso, deputy director of research at Teneo Intelligence in London, wrote in a note.

Macron said in an interview with regional French newspapers on Thursday that the country needed to follow a “new path” based around the economic, social and environmental reconstruction of the country. He added that this would be accompanied by a “new team” in government. It could take days to appoint all the other governmental posts.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-03/macron-taps-jean-castex-france-s-new-prime-minister-in-reshuffle?srnd=politics-vp