Are the days of Elisabeth Borne at Matignon numbered? The question has been around for weeks and the end of the pension reform debacle, but it has yet to find answers. Indeed, the noises of corridor multiply at the top of the State, some affirming that the Prime Minister would be in reprieve, others on the contrary that Emmanuel Macron still has full confidence in him. However, seasoned observers are not fooled and tensions are growing between the Elysée and Matignon.
With Le Parisien, a close friend of the President of the Republic admits that “there is tension in the tube”. Rumors of a reshuffle have multiplied in recent months, particularly since the presentation of the roadmap of the “100 days of appeasement” by the Prime Minister. The count sounds like a threat to some observers: 100 days to give new impetus to the country or leave its place? Officially, none of that. Unofficially… That’s another story.
The beginning of summer is often a good time for redesigns and the latter will arrive in a little over a month and a half. We remember, for example, the departure of Edouard Philippe and the arrival of Jean Castex in July 2020, when Emmanuel Macron wanted to breathe new life into his five-year term after the first months of Covid-19. This time, it is the protest and the tensions around the pension reform that the president would like to send to oblivion. Is changing prime minister a must?
The president could very well have separated from Elisabeth Borne after the vote on the bill, but he confirmed it. A proof of trust? With Le Parisien, the entourage of the Prime Minister evokes the “complementarity” between the Head of State and the tenant of Matignon, underlining the “unfailing loyalty” of the latter, despite “differences in style”. Same story on the side of the Elysée, where the president’s entourage evokes “a perfect understanding” between them and affirms that there is “no substantive divergence”.
However, according to some, the head of state would be annoyed, even “irritated” by his Prime Minister. Does Elisabeth Borne live her last weeks at Matignon?
There is rififi on the direct line between the Elysée and Matignon. In private, according to Le Parisien, it would happen that Emmanuel Macron complains about his Prime Minister, showing himself “irritated against her”. It must be said that Elisabeth Borne must do with a relative majority in the National Assembly and must therefore spare the goat and the cabbage to have the measures wanted by the executive voted. The postponement of the immigration bill would, for example, have been wanted by Matignon, while the Elysee Palace preferred “to go quickly” on this subject.
Different approaches are also highlighted by the Ile-de-France daily on other issues, such as that of the conditional RSA or new discussions with the unions. “She has her tonic accents, that’s normal. But we have all the same seen more dissonance between a president and his Prime Minister”, explains to Parisian Stanislas Guerini, Minister of Transformation and Public Service.
However, while he wants to breathe new life into his five-year term, Emmanuel Macron would have refused to give it to his Prime Minister, effectively excluding a reshuffle of the government team. Back off to better blow up ?
Elisabeth Borne would have liked to reshuffle her team, according to several sources cited by Le Parisien, but Emmanuel Macron did not do so. A decision that could have been taken by two, explains the newspaper, but in the entourage of the president, we also see a sign of the tensions palpable in recent times. “He does not want to breathe new life into him! He is angry with him”, believes a close friend of Emmanuel Macron, believing that the president could feel “trapped”.
The presentation of the “100 days of appeasement” did not always have the desired effect on the side of some Walkers. With Le Parisien, a minister affirms that “the choice of the status quo is not tenable”, but is the head of state ready to clean up the government team? Who could succeed Elisabeth Borne at Matignon? The hypotheses are numerous and the name of Julien Denormandie – faithful from the first hour and whom Emmanuel Macron considers his “baby” is mentioned. For her part, those around Elisabeth Borne say she is “serene”. Answer in the next few weeks.
