French press review 15 November 2010

As one might imagine all the papers (save the Catholic daily La Croix) have gone to town with President Nicolas Sarkozy's long-awaited cabinet reshuffle.

"The Mascarade" is how communist L'Humanité describes Sarkozy's move. In a typically visceral tone the paper decries the, "manipulative nature of the elected monarch." It goes on to say that "after months of protest the game of musical chairs only speeds up the implementation of Sarkozy's ultra-liberal agenda."

One thing that the paper fails to mention, is that with the appointment of ex-justice minister Michèle Aliot-Marie, to the foreign affairs portfolio, she becomes the country's first female exterior minister.

Conservative daily Le Figaro is calling the reshuffle the "next step". The editorial this morning says Sarkozy decided to keep his PM because he has the "rare quality of being popular despite the financial crisis." The choice of "continuity" was an obvious one.

This is not how the leftists at Libération are seeing things, or at least not how they are interpreting them. The paper's editor Laurent Joffrin says that Sarkozy bottled out of any real change. "After a mountain of communication, Sarkozy gave birth to a political mouse yesterday".

The paper, like many others, expected to see the now ex-environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo, move into the PM's residence at Matignon. Instead he's off to "rediscover his freedom." Probably code for, 'off to sulk in a corner'.

It shouldn't be that much of a surprise to Libé. At least not if you look at the two page spread that the paper gives over to Sarkozy's approval rating. The latest poll on the President puts his popularity at an all time low. Only 30 per cent of those questioned said they have confidence in Sarko. Whereas his PM, he gets 45 per cent. In brief, Sarkozy needs Fillon.

Financial daily Les Echos says the new Fillon team is a "bet on continuity". The paper is not surprised by Sarkozy's decision to stick with the status quo prime minister. It hails the decision to keep Cristine Lagarde at the ministry of finance, adding "she is set to beat all the longevity records at the treasury".