1 Nisan 2014 Salı

01.04.2014 THE GUARDIAN NEWS

France's new prime minister to appoint 'government of combat'

 
 
Manuel Valls faces difficult task of pulling together diverse government after hammering at the polls for Socialist party
 
France's new prime minister, Manuel Valls, will name his "government of combat" on Wednesday after taking control of the country's battered administration.
The first council of ministers following a reshuffle is to take place on Thursday at the earliest and is expected to define the initial policies of the new leadership.
President François Hollande has already outlined its priorities: boosting the economy, more social justice and healing the rifts in France that have led to the rise of the far right. He has also vowed to cut government spending.
A change in foreign policy, which remains the domain of the president, is not expected.
Valls took up residence at Hôtel Matignon, the prime minister's seat in Paris, following a handover ceremony less than a day after he was appointed by Hollande.
Valls, who is on the right of the Socialist party (PS), will have to pull together diverse factions of the government, from which two Greens have already resigned.
Cécile Duflot, previously housing minister and Green leader, said she would wait before deciding whether to support the new government.
At least two female ministers, including the justice minister, Christine Taubira, are expected to remain part of what will reportedly be a tightened administration.
Laurent Fabius and Michel Sapin are reported to be keeping their jobs as foreign minister and employment minister respectively. Pierre Moscovici is not expected to remain finance minister.
Valls, 51, was named prime minister on Monday evening after the Socialists lost control of at least 150 towns in local elections. Most went to the mainstream opposition right, but a dozen were won by the far-right Front National.

The handover from the outgoing prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, to Valls was swift and bittersweet. For Ayrault, who resigned hours after the electoral rout, it was time to return to his home in Nantes after serving as the fall guy for Hollande's profound unpopularity.
For Valls the moment was one to savour. He has been breathing down Ayrault's neck since his appointment as interior minister after Hollande's victory in 2012, making no secret of his ambition to run the country's administration. His smile on the steps of Matignon seemed to say it all.
In a parting address to Valls, Ayrault, joined by his wife, Brigitte, told gathered staff and media: "Here we have one mission only: to serve France and the French. As far as I'm concerned, it has been my only driving preoccupation for the last two years.
"I have had only one political aim, to permit France to take her place in the world, while at the same time preserving her social and republican model. It's demanding. But it's the only path that we should follow and continue to follow. What we have had to do here is difficult and not finished."
He added: "From now on it's you who will run the government. Monsieur le premier Ministre, Dear Manuel, I wish you success, I wish you all success, and I say good luck for France."
Valls responded: "We are two socialists, two republicans. I am very proud to have been your minister of interior and we have worked well together. I will obviously continue the work that you have started with the aim of putting the country back on its feet, with the same attachment to the country and to the French."
The new government is expected to be announced before Hollande leaves for Brussels on Wednesday morning where he is attending a mini-summit on the Central African Republic.

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