Paris, May 20 (AFP\/APP):French President Emmanuel Macron named new foreign and defence ministers on Friday as part of a government re-shuffle intended to create fresh momentum ahead of parliamentary elections next month.<\/p>\n
France’s ambassador to London, Catherine Colonna, was picked as foreign minister, making her only the second woman to hold the prestigious job.<\/p>\n
Sebastien Lecornu, former minister for overseas territories, was promoted to the defence ministry, Macron’s chief of staff Alexis Kohler announced at the presidential palace.<\/p>\n
Macron decided to shuffle the portfolios despite the conflict in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest since World War II.<\/p>\n
“It’s a government that is equal (in terms of gender) and balanced in terms of people who were already ministers and new figures,” Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne told reporters.<\/p>\n
Macron needs a parliamentary majority in polls next month in order to push through his domestic reform agenda which includes welfare and pension changes, as well as tax cuts.<\/p>\n
The biggest surprise came in the education ministry where renowned left-wing academic Pap Ndiaye, an expert on colonialism and race relations, will take over from right-winger Jean-Michel Blanquer.<\/p>\n
Ndiaye first gained national prominence with his 2008 work “The Black Condition, an essay on a French minority” and is an outspoken critic of racism and discrimination.<\/p>\n
In his first public comments, he acknowledged that he was “perhaps a symbol, one of meritocracy, but also perhaps of diversity”.<\/p>\n
“I don’t take pride in it, but rather a sense of the duty and responsibilities which are now mine,” he said.<\/p>\n
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called his elevation “the last step in the deconstruction of our country, its values and its future”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris, May 20 (AFP\/APP):French President Emmanuel Macron named new foreign and defence ministers on Friday as part of a government re-shuffle intended to create fresh momentum ahead of parliamentary elections next month. France’s ambassador to London, Catherine Colonna, was picked as foreign minister, making her […]<\/p>\n
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