French Prime Minister Jean Castex waves as he leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Photo by AP.
Three weeks after the frontal election, French Prime Minister Jean Castex submitted his resignation to Emmanuel Macron, the Elysee announced in a statement.
The current Labor Minister, Elisabeth Borne, is now expected to take a key place in Macron’s Cabinet.
The conservative Castex, 56, traveled from Matignon Palace, seat of the head of government, to the Elysée Palace, where he handed Macron his resignation letter.
Castex and the other members of the Executive will continue to hold their posts “until the appointment of the new Government,” the Elysee added.
Jean Castex, former mayor of the small town of Prades, near the Spanish border, spent nearly two years as prime minister of France, a post he reached in July 2020 to replace Édouard Philippe, who held the portfolio in for three years.
The replacement of the prime minister takes place three weeks after the presidential election, allowing Macron to renew the position, beating far-right Marine Le Pen, albeit by a narrower margin than in 2017.
The French president has already indicated that he wants a new political direction for the country, with a head of government with a more social and environmentalist profile, and even a woman.
For this reason, the removal of the middle-right Castex, who has already promoted his desire not to renew as prime minister, is an open secret.
Development news
Source: Clarin
