After months of rumours, plummeting approval ratings, and battles with anti-reform
protesters, French President Nicolas Sarkozy reshuffled his Cabinet yesterday. With a new government in place, the worst of the reforms behind him and the G-20 chairmanship in the offing, President
Sarkozy is hoping to rebuild his profile before the next presidential election. But will it work?
The popular François Fillon continues as Prime Minister despite a strained relationship with the Élysée. But Defense Minister Hervé Morin and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner have been replaced by Alain Juppé, a former prime minister and protege of former President Jacques Chirac, and Michèle Alliot-Marie, a former justice minister in the last cabinet. Both Juppé and Alliot-Marie are formidable politicians who will strike out in new directions. One is a well-connected power-broker, the other a potential future prime minister – and perhaps one day even France’s first female president.
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