Two a penny

.
Just minutes after the announcement of a major cabinet reshuffle, the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party sent a message of congratulations: This new team will lead to indispensable change for our country, as was desired by the president of the republic and as was expected by the French.

But some experts are sceptical. Sylvain Bourmeau, a journalist for Mediapart, told them that the new cabinet is not a big change at all and added that the UMP’s strategy is to realign the government toward the right.R.

Christian Estrosi © D.Henri de Raincourt © D.A former motorbike racing champion, the mayor of Nice has been appointed minister of industry.R.Pierre Lellouche © D.Leader of the ruling UMP party at the French senate, he replaces Roger Karoutchi as minister of parliamentary relations.Special French envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.R. Appointed secretary of state for European affairs. Known for favouring improved ties with France transatlantic allies, he also supports Turkey accession to the EU.Nora Berra © D.Nora Berra © D. Appointed secretary of state for the elderly.Doctor by training, Algerian by origin.R.Benoist Apparu © D. Appointed secretary of state for housing.Member of parliament for his native Marne.R.Marie-Luce Penchard © D.Michel Mercier © D.Formerly an adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy on issues pertaining to French territories, she replaces Yves Jego as secretary of state for overseas territories.The treasurer of the centrist MoDem party led by former presidential candidate Fran&ccedilois Bayrou, he is the only new appointee to defect from his party.The treasurer of the centrist MoDem party led by former presidential candidate Fran&ccedilois Bayrou, he is the only new appointee to defect from his party. Appointed minister of rural territories.Fr&eacuted&eacuteric Mitterrand © D.R.The nephew of late Socialist president Fran&ccedilois Mitterand. Made waves by announcing his own nomination as minister of culture before the news became official. He expressed regret for this move before his predecessor, Christine Albanel.Start the slideshow
// Ride the carousel…
$(document).ready(function() {
$(‘#em_carousel_4721026′).cycle({
fx: ‘custom’,
before: function(curr, next, opts, fwd) {
opts.cssBefore = opts.cssBefore || {}
opts.cssBefore.zIndex = 1
opts.cssBefore.display = ‘block’ if (opts.currSlide img.width)
size=’ height=”60″‘
else
size=’ width=”60″‘
return ‘ ‘ }
})
//Pause right now
$(‘#em_carousel_4721026′).cycle(‘pause’)
$(‘#em_carousel_play_button_4721026′).click(function() {
var diapo = $(‘#em_carousel_4721026′)
if(diapo.attr(‘em_diapo_play’) == “true”)
{
diapo.cycle(‘pause’, true)
diapo.removeAttr(‘em_diapo_play’)
$(‘#em_carousel_play_button_4721026 img’).attr(‘src’, ‘/en/sites/all/modules/france24/france24_cck_carousel/imgs/play.gif’)
$(‘#em_carousel_play_button_4721026 .em_carousel_play_button_txt’).text(‘Start the slideshow’)
}
else
{
diapo.cycle(‘resume’, true)
diapo.attr(‘em_diapo_play’, ‘true’)
$(‘#em_carousel_play_button_4721026 img’).attr(‘src’, ‘/en/sites/all/modules/france24/france24_cck_carousel/imgs/stop.gif’)
$(‘#em_carousel_play_button_4721026 .em_carousel_play_button_txt’).text(‘Stop the slideshow’)
}
return false
})
})

Bourmeau deemed unfortunate the lateral move of Rama Yade, from minister of human rights (a post that was eliminated) to minister of sport. He said the decision may have been based on race politics, since sport is considered the domain of visible minorities.

Guy Milliere, president of the Turgot Institute in Paris, a liberal think tank, was similarly underwhelmed by some of the changes. He said the current regime is just trying to hold things together until the next presidential election.

After the suspense preceding the nominations, the new team was immediately put to work on Wednesday at the convening of their first Council of Ministers meeting at the &Eacutelys&eacutee presidential palace.

The cabinet goals will be a continuation of those of the previous administration. . They are triumphant that the ruling party did not manage to poach many members of rival parties, which posed a problem for them in the past.

Only a few socialists were taken into the fold in the most significant cabinet reshuffle since the beginning of the Sarkozy presidency.

A ‘closed club’

Michel Mercier, treasurer of the centrist MoDem party led by former presidential candidate Fran&ccedilois Bayrou, joins the government in the capacity of minister of regional development.

This close ally of Third Man Bayrou (his rank in the last presidential elections) is the only defector in the new government. Fr&eacuted&eacuteric Lefebvre, a spokesman for the UMP party, said Wednesday in an interview with France 2 that this move was a new sign of openness. Bayrou has not yet commented on Mercier nomination.

The Socialist Party was quick to react. The composition of this new government is marked by several bad signs of being a closed club, it said in a statement. Among other things, they are dismayed by the elimination of the human rights post and the transfer of the education post to the social affairs secretary, Xavier Darcos. According to the Socialists, Darcos pursues the biggest social plan in the nation by eliminating thousands of jobs. The Socialist Party fears what it called a new turn of the screw.

Jean-Louis Bianco of the Socialist Party wrote in his blog on Wednesday that a cabinet reshuffle is useless, except that it distracts the media for 24 hours.

Along the same lines, the left-leaning daily Lib&eacuteration commented ironically on Fr&eacuted&eacuteric Mitterrand appointment to the culture post. The quiet farce, the headline read, a reference to the victorious presidential campaign of his uncle, socialist Fran&ccedilois Mitterrand, who was known as The quiet force. The paper Laurent Joffrin wrote in an editorial that this same-name nomination was a kind of political closure.

A surprise twist

Mitterrand was not the only surprise twist. According to G&eacuterard Aschieri, secretary-general of the teachers&rsquo union, new Minister of Education Luc Chatel is not someone particularly known for his interest in education.

New Labour Minister Darcos recalls that Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary-general of the Workers&rsquo Force, told him to hang in there. Apt advice, given that Darcos will be entrusted with such thorny matters as possibly raising the retirement age and working on Sundays.

The magistrates, for one, are satisfied

The syndicated union of magistrates is one of the few groups to express satisfaction with the new cabinet. They are pleased with the departure of Rachida Dati, who, in their view, left a landscape of ruin that has to be completely reconstructed upon leaving the top post at the Justice Ministry.

Furthermore, they lauded the appointment of Mich&egravele Alliot-Marie to Dati old post, saying that she was someone who knew the law and who is predisposed to be cooperative.

France – government – Nicolas Sarkozy