The French president appoints new members to his government

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed ambassador to London Catherine Colonna as foreign minister in his new government, with which he seeks consolidation before the legislative elections in June.

Colonna, 66, will take over the diplomacy, succeeding Jean-Yves Le Drian. Clement Bon, who goes from foreign minister to deputy minister for European affairs, will be his right hand.

The new chancellor has extensive diplomatic experience, leading representation at UNESCO, Italy and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and since September 2019 in the United Kingdom.

She graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) and also served from 2002 to 2005 as Minister Delegate for European Affairs during the presidency of Governor Jacques Chirac, of whom she was a spokesperson from 1995 to 2004.

The Colonna is one of the main novelties of the new government, which will be led by Elizabeth Bourne – the second Prime Minister after Edith Creson (1991-1992) – along with the Ministers of Education and Culture.

Pape Ndiaye, a 56-year-old French historian specializing in minority affairs and current director of the Museum of the History of Migration, will handle Macron’s education policy, with the exception of universities that will be in charge of Sylvie Rétayu.

French-Lebanese Rima Abdel-Malik, 43, was appointed Minister of Culture. The live performance specialist was a cultural advisor to the French President and former Socialist Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe.

Environmental transformation and energy, one of the president’s priorities, will be in the hands of two ministers he trusts: Amelie de Montchalin and Agnes Pannier-Runacher, respectively.

In addition to Bourne, other members of the former executive led by Jean Castex will remain in their posts, such as Sebastien Licornu, who will move from the Foreign Ministry to the Ministry of Defense, at a time of concern about the Russian offensive in Ukraine and its effects.

The head of the economy, Bruno Le Maire, who has resisted the consequences of the pandemic, will remain in his post, as will his last colleague from the interior, Gerald Darmanin. Both joined the quarterback ranks in 2017.

With the new government, Emmanuel Macron – who was re-elected on April 24 with 58.55% of the vote against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen – is seeking to rebalance his image as a center-right president, by approaching center-right voters. the left.

While opinion polls predict a new majority for the ruling party in legislative elections on June 12-19, Macron faces a left-wing front led by the radical wing and a strong far right.