French PM Elisabeth Borne resigns as President Macron seeks to rejig cabinet with fresh faces
France's PM Elisabeth Borne
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday (January 8) resigned from her post as President Emmanuel Macron prepared to announce a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle. Several changes are expected as the French president seeks new momentum in the last three years in the presidential office.
It is being reported in media that Education Minister Gabriel Attal (34) is a favourite to succeed Borne but no official announcement was made in the immediate aftermath of Borne's resignation.
If he is appointed prime minister, Attal would be the youngest ever and first openly gay prime minister of the country.
"Ms Elisabeth Borne today submitted the resignation of the government to the president, who accepted it," the presidency said in a statement.
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Analysts say that a cabinet reshuffle is necessary to providefresh momentum to Macron's centrist presidency to prevent the projection of his leadership as a 'lame duck' in its last three years.
Macron trumped the far-right in French politics to win a second presidential term in 2022. However, his second term has seen his government face crises, such as unpopular pension reforms. During his second term, he lost his overall majority in parliamentary elections. The immigration legislation was controversial too.
Borne (62) was the second woman to lead France.
After she tendered her resignation, Macron took to X (formerly Twitter) and thanked Borne for "work in the service of our nation that has been exemplary every day". He did not explicitly mention her resignation in his post.
Besides Attal, the other favourites for the post of PM are 37-year-old Defence Minister SebastienLecornu and 43-year-old former agriculture minister Julien Denormandie.
AFP, however, cited a source close to the government and said that Attal was the clear favourite.
In the French government, the president deals with setting general policies while the prime minister manages the day-to-day functioning of the government. This also means that if the administration runs into trouble, it is the PM who faces the most heat.
(With inputs from agencies)