France Unveils New Cabinet – Half Are Women

New French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault named his first cabinet,

a fine balance of women and men across the political spectrum.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has completed his first task and named the new Cabinet. Laurent Fabius, a former prime minister, is to be the new foreign minister. Pierre Moscovici, President Francois Hollande’s campaign director and a former minister for European affairs, will become finance minister.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, a friend of Hollande’s, will lead the defense ministry. Hollande’s campaign communications director Manuel Valls was named interior minister. Hollande also chose close ally Michel Sapin as labour minister and placed Arnaud Montebourg in charge of reindustrialisation.

The appointments were, as promised, a balance of gender parity but the important posts went to men. The 17 women appointed include justice minister Christiane Taubira, culture minister Aurélie Fillippetti, health and social affairs minister Marisol Touraine and ecology minister Nicole Bricq. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, a 34-year-old Franco-Moroccan councillor in Lyon becomes government spokeswoman and minister for women’s rights.

The cabinet has 34 members, two more than the outgoing Sarkozy cabinet. As Hollande announced in March, he has created a new minister for “territorial equality,” who is meant to redress the balance of attention paid to rural areas. Cécile Duflot, leader of “Europe Écologie–The Greens,” becomes the minister responsible for this new office.

Socialist Party chief Martine Aubry said Wednesday that she had “amicably” agreed not to serve on the cabinet of new President François Hollande. Aubry, who will remain party leader, lost to Hollande in the Socialist primary last year.

Hollande’s former partner, Segolene Royal is likely to become President of the National Assembly after the June legislative elections.

Overall the cabinet is seen as a politically moderate reflection of all the interests across the party as well as outside alliances and personal friends of Francois Hollande, who combined to bring the new President to the Elysee Palace.

French leader Francois Hollande’s new Socialist government got down to work on Thursday with the first order of business a symbolic 30 percent pay cut for the president and ministers.

Following the cabinet’s inaugural meeting, spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the salary reduction was to “set an example” as the government looks to tackle France’s troubled public finances.

The move was also aimed at drawing a distinction between Hollande and former president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose gross salary famously increased by 170 percent to 21,300 euros ($27,000) per month after he took office in 2007.

The gross salaries of Hollande and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will fall to 14,910 euros per month, while ministers’ gross salaries will drop from 14,200 euros to 9,940 euros per month.

(AFP, Reuters)

A new government, and a new image.

The Hollande era got underway in Paris when the French president showed off the women in his government. He appeared in a photocall with them, alongside Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Women have taken exactly half the 34 ministerial posts, although men have retained the top jobs.

A previous socialist government introduced a gender parity law but it has rarely been enforced.

Two women on the streets of Paris said they were delighted: “I am thrilled, really thrilled. To have some female power is really great,” said one.

“There are more women on earth than men. For once we find the same quality, the same quantity. Why not?” said another.

But not far away there was some evidence of scepticism.

“Oh mon Dieu!” said one man. “It’s funny, I was discussing it with my wife just now. I was afraid that under the pretext of equality – well it was the question we were asking ourselves – he appointed people who might not be competent in ministerial positions.”

Until now France had been 18th in a European league table of the number of women in government.

President Hollande will try to consolidate his power in parliamentary elections next month.

His government has already announced a reduction in ministerial salaries of 30 percent and a return to a five-day week in primary schools.

(Euronews)