France is headed for a government reshuffle after President Emmanuel Macron’s party lost its absolute majority in parliamentary elections, with three out of 15 ministers losing their seats, reports RFI.
The president of the National Assembly and the head of the LREM parliamentary group were also casualties after Sunday’s vote, which saw France’s political landscape turned upside down.
The reshuffle will take place "in the next few days”, said government spokesperson Olivia Gregoire, adding the election results had left the executive with “an urgency to act”.
”We do not intend to leave a government where a number of positions are missing," she said, referring to the defeats of environment minister Amélie de Montchalin, health minister Brigitte Bourguignon and secretary of state for the sea, Justine Benin.
The trio will be forced to resign their portfolios under rules laid down by Macron himself ahead of the elections. Only ministers who won their seats in the National Assembly are to be allowed to remain in government.
The same rule applies to executives of the presidential party in parliament, with assembly president Richard Ferrand and president of the LREM parliamentary group Christophe Castaner both being given their marching orders.
Prime minister Élisabeth Borne, who was elected to the National Assembly for the first time after winning her seat in Calvados, warned the new make-up of parliament presented “a risk” for France.