French President Francois Hollande yesterday recalled former partner Segolene Royal from the political wilderness to join a new streamlined government, days after his Socialist Party suffered an election drubbing.
Sunday’s stinging setback in nationwide municipal elections prompted Hollande to sack former French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and replace him with tough-talking former French minister of the interior Manuel Valls.
The two wasted no time in radically reshaping the government, appointing two new faces in a Cabinet of just 16 ministers, less than half the 38 in the previous line-up.
Royal, Hollande’s ex-partner and mother of his four children, was named minister for ecology, sustainable development and energy in a spectacular return to mainstream politics for the candidate defeated by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the 2007 elections.
Royal is one of the Socialists’ biggest hitters, but her inclusion in Hollande’s first Cabinet was reportedly blocked because of hostility from the president’s then-girlfriend, journalist Valerie Trierweiler.
That obstacle has now been removed, courtesy of Hollande’s separation from Trierweiler in January in the aftermath of the revelation of his affair with actress Julie Gayet.
Former French finance and economy minister Pierre Moscovici — unable to pull France out of the economic doldrums — was replaced by two contrasting politicians.
Former French minister of labor Michel Sapin — a close Hollande ally and supporter of budgetary rigor — was appointed to the powerful post of finance minister.
Left-wing firebrand Arnaud Montebourg, who as minister for industrial renewal in the previous government drew strong criticism that he was anti-business, was named minister of the economy.
The new government faces an uphill struggle to reduce the number of unemployed, which reached a record 3.34 million in February.
The ministers will have to deal with “an economic context that has deteriorated sharply,” said Frederic Dabi of the Ifop polling institute, with the public deficit still high after 22 months of Socialist rule.
Moreover, growth is almost nonexistent and the exasperation of the French was reflected in Sunday’s municipal polls, which saw the Socialists lose 155 towns and cities to the main opposition and far right.
Hollande has tasked Valls with the pro-business Responsibility Pact, which cuts taxes on firms to be financed by spending cuts of 50 billion euros (US$69 billion).
He also asked him to set in motion a new “Solidarity Pact” that would include steps to boost spending on education and health, and reduce personal income taxes.
Economists say the critical question is if the new government will continue to respect commitments to the EU to reduce its public deficit from 4.3 to 3 percent of output.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was