5 things to know about France’s new PM Jean
Castex
Conservative mayor replaces Edouard Philippe in
Matignon.
By ELISA
BRAUN 7/3/20, 3:10 PM CET Updated 7/3/20, 7:05 PM CET
PARIS —
French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Jean Castex as his new prime
minister on Friday — and you'll be forgiven if you've never heard of him.
Castex, the
conservative mayor of a small town in southern France, made his political
career in the shadows of higher-profile politicians. He moved into a more
public role as the senior official in charge of handling the government's plan
for exiting the coronavirus lockdown until early June.
An
experienced civil servant and skilled political operative, Castex has never
held an executive position at national level before.
Here are
five things to know about France’s new head of government.
1. He has
worked at the Elysée
Castex
carries the classic profile of a French high-level public servant, having attended
the elite national school of public administration from which Macron also
graduated alongside most of the top political class.
Castex was
an adviser on social affairs in former French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
cabinet, before becoming deputy secretary-general of the Elysée in 2011, a key
post that Macron himself occupied.
The new
prime minister started his political career with conservative heavyweight
Xavier Bertrand, first as his head of cabinet at the health ministry and later
in the labor ministry in the 2000s.
2. He has
experience in health crisis management
Castex had
the difficult task of coordinating the easing of lockdown in France, which
earned him the nickname "Monsieur Déconfinement." He is considered to
have performed well and reportedly won internal battles against government
members with whom he didn't see eye-to-eye.
The new
prime minister previously dealt with another major health crisis when he was
working at the health ministry as chief of staff in 2006.
“He is the
one who put in place the pandemic plan during the avian flu crisis and the
doctrine on state stockpiles of masks. In other words, he knows what he's
talking about!" his former boss Bertrand told Le Parisien.
3. He
wasn't in the Macron club
Castex was
first approached by Macron after the election in 2017 when the French president
offered him the position of delegate to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Macron and
Edouard Philippe, who Castex is replacing, also thought of him in 2018 to run
the very sensitive interior ministry, Le Monde reported. But this proposal
didn't have the support of Macron’s own party, who saw him as too close to
Sarkozy and opposed his nomination.
According
to Le Figaro, Castex left his conservative party Les Républicains last week.
4. He is
Philippe but better (or so the Elysée thinks)
Castex has
qualities that were seen as missing in Philippe, including an ability to reach
out across the political aisle.
Crucially,
he reportedly has a good working relationship with leading French unions, whose
relations with the Elysée have been tense since Macron put a controversial
pension reform top of his agenda.
Former
union leader Jean-Claude Mailly, of Force Ouvrière, once described Castex as
“someone you can talk to, who is not big-headed.”
"He's
a real Swiss Army knife, he has connections everywhere and knows how to do the
right thing in the right place," Franck Louvrier, Sarkozy's former
adviser, told Le Point.
Still, the
new prime minister and his predecessor have very similar profiles — they're
both conservative politicians from the same generation, little known to a wider
public before their nomination. That will undoubtedly raise questions about
Macron's past pledges to nominate more diverse profiles (say, a woman).
5. He’s
into rugby and history
Castex has
a typical accent from southwestern France, where his grandfather also held
official positions. A father of four daughters, he considers Catalan culture a significant
influence in his life.
His father
Claude was the president of a rugby club and Jean Castex often went to games
when he was young. “He was a regular supporter. He was never a great sportsman,
but when he was young he played a lot of tennis," his father told local
newspaper Sud-Ouest in 2010.
The
politician also has a BA in history and published a book about the history of
the railway line between Perpignan and Villefranche.
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