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ELECTION

Macron unveils first government and leaves French right fuming

Newly installed French president Emmanuel Macron unveiled his first government on Wednesday with the left, the right, the centre and ecologists all represented in his first government.

Published: 17 May 2017 17:35 CEST
Macron unveils first government and leaves French right fuming
Photo: AFP

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Main info

  • Macron unveils first centrist government featuring figures from left and right and a famous ecologist
  • The government is also balanced between men and women
  • Macron’s government also features several figures from civil society
  • However only one of top five roles went to a woman

Macron named his government on Wednesday which featured figures from the right, the left, the centre, a famous ecologist and an Olympic fencing champion.

The government contains 18 ministers and four secretaries of state with the gender divide split evenly.

Macron and his Prime Minister Philippe Edouard named Bruno Le Maire from the right-wing Republicans party as the minister for economy.

Le Maire had been touted as possible member of the cabinet in recent days and is one of three members of the Republicans party in Macron’s government along with Prime Minister Philippe.

Another figure from the right adopted into Macron’s 22-strong government is Gerald Darmanin, who is named as minister of public accounts.

The naming of two conservatives naturally irked those on the right.

François Baroin who is leading the Republicans’ parliamentary elections campaign said: “They have gone, it’s their choice, it belongs to them.”

The Republicans later sent out a statement calling the government “confusing”. The party also confirmed that those members who had joined Macron’s Republic en Marche (REM) party are no longer part of the Republicans.

Socialist party stalwart and veteran of François Hollande’s government Jean-Yves Le Drian remains in the government but moves over from defence minister to Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Renowned ecologist and former TV star Nicolas Hulot has been named Minister of Ecology. Hulot has been touted as a minister in every government over recent years so it is somewhat of a coup for Macron to persuade him to join his cabinet.

He is the most famous face MAcron has brought in from civic society, which was one of his pledges.

Macron’s long term ally Gerard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon, is named interior minister and centrist François Bayrou, who joined forces with Macron at a crucial point in the campaign was named minister for justice.

Sylvie Goulard an MEP with Bayrou’s MoDem party was named defence minister.

Goulard has been praised for her experience of the EU institutions and helped organise Macron’s trip to Berlin to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel during the election campaign.

Other women named as part of the government include Agnès Busain as minister for solidarity and health, Muriel Penicaud as minister of labour and Françoise Nyseen, a publisher, as culture minister.

Annick Girardin, another surviving member of Hollande’s government, has been named minister of overseas territories and former Olympic fencing champion Laura Flessel from Guadaloupe is another member of civic society drafted into the government. She becomes the minister of sport.

READ ALSO: Who’s who: All you need to know about Macron’s new government

Who's who: All you need to know about Macron's 'balanced' French government

 

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe tweeted out “Government named. Now let’s get to work.” The government’s first cabinet meeting will be held on Thursday.

On the campaign trail ahead of his election on May 7, Macron pledged a slimmed-down group of ministers of around 15 people, half of them women and including people from outside politics.

Macron had delayed announcing the names on Tuesday with the official reason given that it was due to the need to carry out more extensive screening of candidates. However many suggested it may have been because of disagreements with his PM Edouard Philippe.

Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, is seeking to attract support from the right-wing Republicans party and appointed a prime minister from their ranks, Edouard Philippe, on Monday.

READ ALSO: Why is Macron naming government now and not after June’s elections?

Why does France's president name a PM and government before June's crucial elections?

France’s youngest ever president has already attracted dozens of Socialist MPs to his side as he seeks to create a new centrist force in French politics that will marginalise the traditional parties of left and right.

He is eyeing parliamentary elections in June when he hopes his new Republique En Marche (REM) party will win a majority, giving him the freedom to enact his ambitious reform programme.

In his busy first week, Macron is also set to meet EU Council President Donald Tusk in Paris on Wednesday as he tackles his top foreign priority of reforming the European Union.

The meeting was pushed back at the last-minute from its scheduled time of midday until the evening.

Tusk was one of the first prominent European voices to congratulate Macron on his May 7 presidential election runoff victory over far-right and anti-EU politician Marine Le Pen.

Macron, who ran a staunchly pro-European campaign, kept with tradition by visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday in his first trip abroad after taking office.

The pair now at the centre of the European project vowed to give it new impetus, saying they were ready to change treaties if necessary.

Macron has urged a deepening of the EU to fight off a recent surge of populism on the continent.

ELECTION

German Greens’ chancellor candidate Baerbock targeted by fake news

With Germany's Green party leading the polls ahead of September's general elections, the ecologists' would-be successor to Angela Merkel has become increasingly targeted by internet trolls and fake news in recent weeks.

Published: 29 April 2021 09:13 CEST
German Greens' chancellor candidate Baerbock targeted by fake news
The Greens chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock on April 26th. Photo: DPA

From wild claims about CO2-emitting cats and dogs to George Soros photo collages, 40-year-old Annalena Baerbock has been the subject of a dizzying array of fake news, conspiracy theories and online attacks since she was announced as the Greens’ chancellor candidate in mid-April.

The latest polls have the Greens either ahead of or level with Merkel’s ruling conservatives, as the once fringe party further establishes itself as a leading electoral force in Europe’s biggest economy.

Baerbock herself also consistently polls higher than her conservative and centre-left rivals in the race to succeed Merkel, who will leave office after 16 years this autumn.

Yet her popularity has also brought about unwanted attention and a glut of fake news stories aimed at discrediting Baerbock as she bids to become Germany’s first Green chancellor.

READ ALSO:

False claims

Among the false stories circulating about Baerbock is the bizarre claim that she wants to ban household pets in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Another fake story firmly denied by the party claimed that she defied rules on mask-wearing and social-distancing by embracing colleagues upon her nomination earlier this month.

Baerbock has also been presented as a “model student” of Hungarian billionaire George Soros – a hate figure for the European far-right and anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists – in a mocked-up social media graphic shared among others by a far-right MP.

More serious online attacks include a purported photo of Baerbock which in fact shows a similar-looking naked model.

The Greens’ campaign manager Michael Kellner said that the attempts to discredit Baerbock had “taken on a new dimension”, that “women are targeted more heavily by online attacks than men, and that is also true of our candidate”.

Greens co-leader Annalena Baerbock earlier this month. Photo: DPA

Other false claims about the party include reports of a proposed ban on barbecues, as well as plans to disarm the police and enforce the teaching of the Quran in schools.

While such reports are patently absurd, they are potentially damaging to Baerbock and her party as they bid to spring a surprise victory in September.

“She has a very real chance, but the coming weeks are going to be very important because Baerbock’s public image is still taking shape,” Thorsten Faas, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University told AFP.

In a bid to fight back against the flood of false information, the party has launched a new “online fire service” to report fake news stories.

READ ALSO: Greens become ‘most popular political party’ in Germany

Russian disinformation

Yet stemming the tide is no easy job, with many of those who peddle disinformation now using private messaging services such as WhatsApp and Telegram rather than public platforms such as Facebook.

The pandemic and ongoing restrictions on public life will also make it harder for the campaign to push through their own narratives at public events.

Miro Dittrich of Germany’s Amadeu-Antonio anti-racism foundation claims that lockdown has “played a role” in the spread of fake news.

“People are isolated from their social environment and are spending a lot more time online,” he said.

Another factor is Russia, which has made Germany a primary target of its efforts to spread disinformation in Europe.

According to the European anti-disinformation platform EUvsDisinfo, Germany has been the target of 700 Russian disinformation cases since 2015, compared to 300 aimed at France and 170 at Italy.

As an outspoken critic of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Germany and Russia, Baerbock may well become a target of such attacks during the election campaign.

By Mathieu FOULKES

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