LR tenor Bruno Retailleau has been appointed Minister of the Interior to replace Gérald Darmanin, announced the Secretary General of the Elysée Alexis Kohler on Saturday.
Strategic leader of the powerful Les Républicains group in the Senate since 2014, the elected official from Vendée, who takes a firm line on immigration, security and respect for secularism, has constantly denounced ” laxity » of Macronie on the subjects managed by this ministry.
Bruno Retailleau also opposed marriage for all and the end-of-life bill wanted by Emmanuel Macron.
The handover between Messrs. Retailleau and Darmanin will take place on Monday at 10:30 a.m., AFP learned from a source close to the matter.
At 63, the new “Top Cop of France” ticks the last box that was missing on his political CV: after having been a general councillor of Vendée (1988-2015), member of parliament (1994-1997), president of the general council of Vendée (2010-2015), president of the regional council of Pays de Loire (2016-2017), senator and president of the UMP group then Les Républicains in the Senate (since 2014), here he is a minister.
In Beauvau, this horse riding enthusiast, a former protégé of Philippe de Villiers in the Movement for France (MPF), will have a lot to do.
Liberal-conservative right
The police union UN1TÉ has already demanded “respect for the commitments made to the national police personnel, for their unprecedented deployment which largely contributed to the success” of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In a statement released shortly after the announcement of the new government, the union also asked Retailleau to “defend the next budgets for an operation worthy of our ministry »: “It is urgent to ensure the best possible working conditions for the police officers responsible for ensuring the safety of our fellow citizens.”
The only heavyweight in the Barnier government, Retailleau is a figure of the liberal-conservative right, with inflexible convictions, a supporter of a “civilization policy”.
On societal reforms, the profile of this opponent of marriage for all, a loyal follower of François Fillon, also risks making people grumble. Particularly on the left, where, in addition to his fight against the inclusion of abortion in the Constitution, some have brought out controversial statements, such as during the riots of June 2023, when he established a link between immigration, these excesses and “a sort of regression towards ethnic origins” on the part of the “second and third generations”.
No matter, Mr. Retailleau, attached to his lands, follows in the footsteps of Georges Clemenceau, another Vendéen who passed through Beauvau.
(With AFP)
