Francois Hollande on Tuesday installed a former banker and ally as economy minister in an emergency reshuffle seen as the "last chance" to haul France out of the biggest crisis of his presidency. The top members of the government remained unchanged, but three rebel ministers who had publicly attacked Hollande's economic policy were not in the line-up as the president seeks to quell dissenting voices in his team.
In a surprising move, Hollande appointed 36-year-old Emmanuel Macron, an ex-Rothschild banker and former advisor, as economy minister - a clear sign he wants a coherent line on economic policy after recent sniping from the left-wing of his Socialist Party. Macron was Hollande's economic advisor until this spring and pushed the Socialist president towards implementing a more liberal financial policy as the country struggles with stagnant growth and record unemployment.
His appointment marks a clear shift to the right, as he replaces Arnaud Montebourg, the left-wing firebrand and chief rebel who sparked the government's sudden collapse on Monday. The new minister has the unenviable task of pepping up Europe's second-biggest economy, which registered zero growth in the first six months of the year. Finance Minister Michel Sapin and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius were also confirmed in their posts and Segolene Royal, Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children, stays environment and energy minister.
Hollande called earlier Tuesday for a government "of clarity" that will toe the line, after Montebourg took two other left-wing rebels - culture minister Aurelie Filippetti and education minister Benoit Hamon - with him. Fleur Pellerin was appointed culture minister and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem education minister. The reshuffle was seen as an attempt by Hollande, whose popularity is at a record low, to wrest back control of the political agenda, crush internal party rebellion and push forward his economic reform policies.
Leading daily Le Monde described the cabinet reshuffle as "the last chance for the president to save his five-year term." The new government faces a host of challenges, not least a budget bill in parliament that will be watched very closely by the European Union, which has insisted France slash its ballooning budget deficit. Caught in a trap of stagnating growth and high unemployment, Hollande is pinning his hopes on his Responsibility Pact - a package of tax breaks for business funded by public spending cuts. Hollande has pledged to cut social charges for companies in return for the promised creation of 500,000 jobs.
But with the current emphasis on austerity within Europe, France has vowed to counterbalance that with 50 billion euros ($66 billion) in cuts to public spending. "The fact that the economy is today slower in Europe and in France does not mean that we should give up" on reforms, Hollande said in an interview last week. "On the contrary, we need to go faster and further."
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