French press review 15 May 2017

This is the week in which the new French president will name a new prime minister and a new government. That's a lot of novelty. The crucial question is: just how new will it all seem when the dust settles?

One unnamed but apparently right-wing civil servant is quoted by Le Monde as saying that the new team will be leftist, technocratic, hands-on, "the offspring of an improbable union between Michel Rocard and Dominique Strauss-Kahn". An unpleasant image, to say the least of it.

Le Monde thinks President Emmanuel Macron will continue to surround himself with young, brilliantly qualified administrators, in the image of the team which helped him win the top job. Several members of that team have already been appointed to the presidential staff.

But Le Monde also says that pragmatic considerations will force the new president to make political appointments and choose a few old heads.

And the new prime minister is . . .

Right-wing daily Le Figaro suggests that the new French prime minister will be the one-time Socialist, turned Alain Juppé supporter, Edouard Philippe.

He is currently mayor of the western port city of Le Havre and is a member of the right-wing Republicans party. Crucially, says Le Figaro, he has the experience and the political profile to enable him to run a government that will, in all probability, be a composite of left- and right-wing sympathisers with a large dose of inexperience as Macron imposes his wish to hear other, new voices representing French society in the national parliament.

Politically, the choice of Philippe would be a masterstroke, since he would enable a number of other right-wingers to break ranks and openly ally themselves with the centrist president.

But Le Figaro cautiously reminds us that the new president loves springing surprises and that we won't know for sure until the official announcement of the name of the government number one later this morning.

As for the rest of the team, Le Figaro expects François Bayrou to get the justice ministry, Jean-Pierre Raffarin at foreign affairs, with Jean-Yves le Drian keeping his curent job at defence.

Serious, symbolic and smooth: not a bad first day at work

Left-leaning Libération wishes the new man at the helm "Good luck" as its main headline.

The paper sees the symbolic choices made during yesterday's hand-over of power as typical of a man who intends to assure the solemnity of his role but also wants to give the presidency a youthful boost. So he slowly marched to meet François Hollande on the steps of the Elysée Palace but then went up the stairs inside four at a time. Public pose, private pace.

Macron is clearly no dupe about the challenges ahead. In one of yesterday's speeches, he repeated his determination to free up the labour market and support business, a red rag to the trade unions already worried that an ex-banker has his hands on the wheel. But Macron also promised to protect French people who feel forgotten and give citizens back their voice.

Will the new president be able to heal a deeply divided nation?

Catholic daily La Croix says the president's major task will be to repair a nation whose divisions were so clearly shown in the recent elections. And the crucial divide is that between rich and poor.

La Croix says it's a great idea to want to reduce the number of the unemployed by one million over the next five years but reminds the new leader that it will take time to achieve that.

In the interim, the currently unemployed need decent social welfare and meaningful training: enough money to ensure a dignified existence and real support to help them qualify for a new place in the working environment.