France’s new government
The French have a new Prime Minister and a new governement. The list is everywhere so let’s try to assess how it looks like and what it could mean.
First, this is a compact government compared to many previous ones: 20 Ministers and Secretaries of state, including the Prime Minister, François Fillion, who has in the past tried to conduct reforms in social affairs (on pensions more specifically) and education. The message is “small is beautiful”.
Second, this government respects a better gender parity than usual in the French system. It is not the first time strategic portfolio as Interior and Justice have been given to women, but this is the first time there are so many women in such a close team. One of these lucky women is Rachida Dati: from a north african and very modest background, she made her way through the system to become a judge, and has just been appointed by Sarkozy as Minister for Justice at the age of 43. She portrays herself as the sign of Sarkozy’s “new France”: a country which gives opportunity to those coming from modest backgounds but who worked hard to make it happen.
Third, and probably the most interesting, this government opened its door to 4 prominent socialists: Bernard Kouchner as Minister for foreign affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet (former Head of the French Treasury) as Secretary of state for European affairs, Martin Hirsch, former head of the French NGO Emmaüs, as High Commissionner for solidarities against poverty, and last but not least, Eric Besson, former advisor to the socialist candidate Ségolène Royal and just appointed Secretary of state for prospective and public policies assessment.
The signal to where the new President and his government want to go in foreign policy is pretty clear : this new team will certainly adopt a more pro-american or pro-atlanticist kind of policy, and will be more aggressive on issues such as human rights ; it will also seek for a more active involvement in conflicts like the Middle East’s one. Sarkozy and Kouchner actually share most of these foreign policy directions. This is not to say France will « align » itself to american-driven solutions, but it certainly opens the door to a less ideological and more proactive cooperation with the US on many fronts.
An other strong signal has been delivered on environment : by appointing former Prime Minister Alain Juppé as Minister « of state » (which basically means n°2 in the governement) for environment and sustainable developement, Sarkozy definitely wants to put those issues at the center of the French political debate. Remember that in his first speech as newly elected President, Sarkozy emphazised his willingness to move forward on those issues, in particular by pushing the US to adopt a more positive attitude when it comes to international regulations in this field.
On a broader perspective, the debate about the real nature and function of this unusual governement is ragging: for some, this is a true sign of a real openeness and willingness to form a “coalition of the willings”, whatever their political affiliation, to get France out of its current difficulties; for others, this is a pure manoeuver on Sarkozy’s side to kill the socialists and the centrists before the parliamentary elections due in June. This blurring of traditional political lines is fascinating to observe, and triggers the following questions: will such a governement, very diverse in its composition, pass the test of cohesion when it’ll come to concrete policies ? What may happen if and when those coming from the left will feel uncomfortable about some of the decisions taken by what remains a conservative team? With a socialist party in disarray and a center party whose development is still uncertain to say the least, where will alternative political offers come from in the French political landscape ?