Cover image: Bruno Retailleau and Laurent Wauquiez were welcomed by Michel Barnier on 19 September 2024. Cyril Bitton / Divergence for “Le Monde”
Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced on Thursday, September 19, that France would have a government “before Sunday”. In the afternoon, he was received at the Elysée Palace for about fifty minutes by Emmanuel Macron, to whom he presented a list of thirty-eight ministers, including sixteen full-time ministers, the last hurdle being the ongoing ethical checks.
Among the full-time ministers, there are seven Macronists and three Republicans (LR), two MoDem, one Horizons and a member of the centrist UDI party. Among the three right-wing ministers is Bruno Retailleau, head of the LR senators, who should be appointed Minister of the Interior, several sources from the right and the central bloc said. Laurent Wauquiez, head of the LR deputies, took the lead by announcing that he was giving up joining the government, after having refused the post of Minister of Finance.
On the Macronist side, the resigned Minister for European Affairs of the MoDem, Jean-Noël Barrot, will be proposed for Foreign Affairs, while the Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, should be re-elected, according to a central bloc official.
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