File photo of French President Francois Hollande.
Paris:
Francois Hollande on Tuesday installed a former banker and ally as economy minister in an emergency reshuffle seen as the "last chance" to haul France out of the biggest crisis of his presidency.
The top members of the government remained unchanged, but three rebel ministers who had publicly attacked Hollande's economic policy were not in the line-up as the president seeks to quell dissenting voices in his team.
In a surprising move, Hollande appointed 36-year-old Emmanuel Macron, an ex-Rothschild banker and former advisor, as economy minister -- a clear sign he wants a coherent line on economic policy after recent sniping from the left-wing of his Socialist Party.
Macron was Hollande's economic advisor until this spring and pushed the Socialist president towards implementing a more liberal financial policy as the country struggles with stagnant growth and record unemployment.
His appointment marks a clear shift to the right, as he replaces Arnaud Montebourg, the left-wing firebrand and chief rebel who sparked the government's sudden collapse on Monday.
The new minister has the unenviable task of pepping up Europe's second-biggest economy, which registered zero growth in the first six months of the year.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius were also confirmed in their posts and Segolene Royal, Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children, stays environment and energy minister.
Hollande called earlier Tuesday for a government "of clarity" that will toe the line, after Montebourg took two other left-wing rebels -- culture minister Aurelie Filippetti and education minister Benoit Hamon -- with him.
Fleur Pellerin was appointed culture minister and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem education minister.
The reshuffle was seen as an attempt by Hollande, whose popularity is at a record low, to wrest back control of the political agenda, crush internal party rebellion and push forward his economic reform policies.
Leading daily Le Monde described the cabinet reshuffle as "the last chance for the president to save his five-year term."
The new government faces a host of challenges, not least a budget bill in parliament that will be watched very closely by the European Union, which has insisted France slash its ballooning budget deficit.
'Financial absurdity'
Caught in a trap of stagnating growth and high unemployment, Hollande is pinning his hopes on his Responsibility Pact -- a package of tax breaks for business funded by public spending cuts.
Hollande has pledged to cut social charges for companies in return for the promised creation of 500,000 jobs.
But with the current emphasis on austerity within Europe, France has vowed to counterbalance that with 50 billion euros ($66 billion) in cuts to public spending.
"The fact that the economy is today slower in Europe and in France does not mean that we should give up" on reforms, Hollande said in an interview last week.
"On the contrary, we need to go faster and further."
But the spending cuts in particular have raised heckles on the left of the French political spectrum, which sees austerity as a German-led policy that drags growth down and unemployment up.
Montebourg attacked austerity as a "financial absurdity" that had pushed France and Europe into the deepest crisis since the 1929 Great Depression and was also driving voters into the arms of extremist parties.
The outspoken left-winger, who is no stranger to controversy, also launched an attack on European powerhouse Germany and its focus on austerity policies.
Montebourg insisted that he was leaving on "amicable terms" with the prime minister, but the ejection of the three left-wing ministers from the cabinet raised fears of a wider split within Hollande's Socialist Party that could threaten his parliamentary majority.
The prime minister himself, seen as closer to the right flank of the Socialist Party, is also deeply unpopular with many on the left of French politics.
Two Green ministers left the government when Valls was appointed in March after the Socialists suffered a drubbing at local elections.
Opposition figures said there was a major crisis of confidence at the heart of the executive, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen even calling for the lower house National Assembly to be dissolved.
Noting that Hollande was "more and more isolated," left-wing daily Liberation said France was suffering a "regime crisis" but the main opposition centre-right UMP party has been careful not to call for a dissolution of parliament.
A recent survey by polling institute IFOP showed that more than eight in 10 French people had no confidence in the government when it came to economic growth, reducing the deficit or fighting unemployment.
The top members of the government remained unchanged, but three rebel ministers who had publicly attacked Hollande's economic policy were not in the line-up as the president seeks to quell dissenting voices in his team.
In a surprising move, Hollande appointed 36-year-old Emmanuel Macron, an ex-Rothschild banker and former advisor, as economy minister -- a clear sign he wants a coherent line on economic policy after recent sniping from the left-wing of his Socialist Party.
Macron was Hollande's economic advisor until this spring and pushed the Socialist president towards implementing a more liberal financial policy as the country struggles with stagnant growth and record unemployment.
His appointment marks a clear shift to the right, as he replaces Arnaud Montebourg, the left-wing firebrand and chief rebel who sparked the government's sudden collapse on Monday.
The new minister has the unenviable task of pepping up Europe's second-biggest economy, which registered zero growth in the first six months of the year.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius were also confirmed in their posts and Segolene Royal, Hollande's former partner and the mother of his four children, stays environment and energy minister.
Hollande called earlier Tuesday for a government "of clarity" that will toe the line, after Montebourg took two other left-wing rebels -- culture minister Aurelie Filippetti and education minister Benoit Hamon -- with him.
Fleur Pellerin was appointed culture minister and Najat Vallaud-Belkacem education minister.
The reshuffle was seen as an attempt by Hollande, whose popularity is at a record low, to wrest back control of the political agenda, crush internal party rebellion and push forward his economic reform policies.
Leading daily Le Monde described the cabinet reshuffle as "the last chance for the president to save his five-year term."
The new government faces a host of challenges, not least a budget bill in parliament that will be watched very closely by the European Union, which has insisted France slash its ballooning budget deficit.
'Financial absurdity'
Caught in a trap of stagnating growth and high unemployment, Hollande is pinning his hopes on his Responsibility Pact -- a package of tax breaks for business funded by public spending cuts.
Hollande has pledged to cut social charges for companies in return for the promised creation of 500,000 jobs.
But with the current emphasis on austerity within Europe, France has vowed to counterbalance that with 50 billion euros ($66 billion) in cuts to public spending.
"The fact that the economy is today slower in Europe and in France does not mean that we should give up" on reforms, Hollande said in an interview last week.
"On the contrary, we need to go faster and further."
But the spending cuts in particular have raised heckles on the left of the French political spectrum, which sees austerity as a German-led policy that drags growth down and unemployment up.
Montebourg attacked austerity as a "financial absurdity" that had pushed France and Europe into the deepest crisis since the 1929 Great Depression and was also driving voters into the arms of extremist parties.
The outspoken left-winger, who is no stranger to controversy, also launched an attack on European powerhouse Germany and its focus on austerity policies.
Montebourg insisted that he was leaving on "amicable terms" with the prime minister, but the ejection of the three left-wing ministers from the cabinet raised fears of a wider split within Hollande's Socialist Party that could threaten his parliamentary majority.
The prime minister himself, seen as closer to the right flank of the Socialist Party, is also deeply unpopular with many on the left of French politics.
Two Green ministers left the government when Valls was appointed in March after the Socialists suffered a drubbing at local elections.
Opposition figures said there was a major crisis of confidence at the heart of the executive, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen even calling for the lower house National Assembly to be dissolved.
Noting that Hollande was "more and more isolated," left-wing daily Liberation said France was suffering a "regime crisis" but the main opposition centre-right UMP party has been careful not to call for a dissolution of parliament.
A recent survey by polling institute IFOP showed that more than eight in 10 French people had no confidence in the government when it came to economic growth, reducing the deficit or fighting unemployment.
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