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Sarkozy to name replacement finance minister
Source: Agencies |
June 29, 2011, Wednesday
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FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to name a new finance minister today following the appointment of Christine Lagarde as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire, Budget Minister Francois Baroin and a higher education minister, Valerie Pecresse, are all pegged as possible successors to Lagarde, with an announcement expected later in the day.
The post is one of the highest-profile in the government, yet the switch 10 months before a presidential election is unlikely to alter France's economic and fiscal policy, which is largely guided by Sarkozy's office.
Sarkozy is keen to promote young or centrist-leaning members of his UMP party, aides have said, after recent reshuffles brought in old-school conservatives close to former president Jacques Chirac, such as Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.
Lagarde, who had been finance minister since Sarkozy came to power in 2007, was named yesterday as head of the Washington-based IMF, replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn who quit in May after being arrested in New York for allegedly trying to rape a hotel chambermaid.
Strauss-Kahn's exit from the April 2012 presidential race, where the centre-left leader had been seen as the best chance for the opposition Socialist Party, has given Sarkozy a window to try and net centrist voters for himself and stop them backing a centre-right rival, former energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo.
Le Maire, 42, a former advisor to another breakaway centrist and Sarkozy rival, Dominique de Villepin, was cited by some French media as having the best chance for the finance ministry job.
Le Maire has been rated one of France's best farm ministers of recent years and is credited with smoothly handling a milk price crisis last year.
Baroin, 46, also the government spokesman, has long been seen as a natural successor for Lagarde, having worked closely with the finance ministry and on fiscal reforms in his current job. His close ties to Chirac might count against him, however.
Pecresse, 43, is also a member of Chirac's camp, having worked in the past as an adviser to him, yet she is rated as extremely able in economics and is multilingual. Promoting her would also allow Sarkozy to put a woman back in a high-profile job, having lost several from his cabinet in recent months.
A graduate of France's elite ENA public administration school, Pecresse has long been touted for a senior government post, and showed toughness in her current position by pushing through difficult university reforms.
Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire, Budget Minister Francois Baroin and a higher education minister, Valerie Pecresse, are all pegged as possible successors to Lagarde, with an announcement expected later in the day.
The post is one of the highest-profile in the government, yet the switch 10 months before a presidential election is unlikely to alter France's economic and fiscal policy, which is largely guided by Sarkozy's office.
Sarkozy is keen to promote young or centrist-leaning members of his UMP party, aides have said, after recent reshuffles brought in old-school conservatives close to former president Jacques Chirac, such as Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.
Lagarde, who had been finance minister since Sarkozy came to power in 2007, was named yesterday as head of the Washington-based IMF, replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn who quit in May after being arrested in New York for allegedly trying to rape a hotel chambermaid.
Strauss-Kahn's exit from the April 2012 presidential race, where the centre-left leader had been seen as the best chance for the opposition Socialist Party, has given Sarkozy a window to try and net centrist voters for himself and stop them backing a centre-right rival, former energy minister Jean-Louis Borloo.
Le Maire, 42, a former advisor to another breakaway centrist and Sarkozy rival, Dominique de Villepin, was cited by some French media as having the best chance for the finance ministry job.
Le Maire has been rated one of France's best farm ministers of recent years and is credited with smoothly handling a milk price crisis last year.
Baroin, 46, also the government spokesman, has long been seen as a natural successor for Lagarde, having worked closely with the finance ministry and on fiscal reforms in his current job. His close ties to Chirac might count against him, however.
Pecresse, 43, is also a member of Chirac's camp, having worked in the past as an adviser to him, yet she is rated as extremely able in economics and is multilingual. Promoting her would also allow Sarkozy to put a woman back in a high-profile job, having lost several from his cabinet in recent months.
A graduate of France's elite ENA public administration school, Pecresse has long been touted for a senior government post, and showed toughness in her current position by pushing through difficult university reforms.
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