Both decrees were signed by the President of the Republic. Bruno Retailleau ended up winning the discreet confrontation between him and his predecessor, Gérald Darmanin. At the end of the Council of Ministers on Thursday, October 31, Emmanuel Macron supported the choice of the Minister of the Interior to appoint Lieutenant General Hubert Bonneau and the Prefect of Isère, Louis Laugier, respectively Director General of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN) and Director General of the National Police (DGPN).
This double appointment marks the epilogue of a war of succession that began in spring, when Darmanin used all his influence in the Elysée so that these two strategic positions were entrusted to General Xavier Ducept, head of the island’s gendarmes. -de-France, and his own chief of staff, Alexandre Brugère. This without taking into account Mr. Retailleau’s determination to immediately impose his authority in a decisive election for the implementation of his security policy.
Upon his arrival at the Ministry of the Interior on September 23, the new tenant discovered this thorny issue at the same time that he was bothered by the activism displayed by Gérald Darmanin. Brugère’s candidacy, in particular, poses serious difficulties for his cabinet: how to agree to appoint the DGPN as the right arm of Darmanin, a trusted man of the former minister and privileged interlocutor of the police unions that surrounded him. for four years?
Consultation process
Therefore, at the beginning of October, the new Minister of the Interior resumed a consultation process and personally received several candidates, assisted by his chief of staff, Franck Robine. “He works but wants to take his time and not have candidates imposed on him”those around him insisted. Fifteen days later, on Monday, October 21, for his first face-to-face interview with the President of the Republic, Retailleau presented his shortlist to Emmanuel Macron and obtained the green light from the Head of State: he will sign the decrees. formalize MM appointments. Bonneau and Laugier.
The first is a consensus in the gendarmerie. Former head of the prestigious intervention group of the National Gendarmerie (GIGN) from 2014 to 2017, previously in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Europe, former director of operations and employment – the gendarmerie control tower – Bonneau presents a “very operational” profile ” which should lead you to set the strategic orientations and embody the institution. It is up to his number two, Major General André Petillot, to run a store whose mysteries he knows by heart. A significant advantage in the eyes of the gendarmes: they will be commanded by one of their own, as has been systematically happening since 2004.
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