Embattled French education minister replaced in reshuffle
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has finally completed his government nearly a month after being nominated – with a total of 35 ministers and secretaries of state. Most notably, a new education minister will take over from Amélie Oudea-Castera after a series of controversies.
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President Emmanuel Macron reshuffled his government in January with a tilt to the right, naming a small team of just 14 ministers under Attal, its youngest ever prime minister.
Attal late Thursday announced a second batch of ministerial nominations to complete a team aimed at injecting momentum for the final phase of the Macron presidency.
While Oudéa-Castera has lost the education portfolio, the former high-flying tennis plays stays on as Sports and Olympic Games Minister.
Nicole Belloubet – justice minister between 2017 and 2020 and former member of the Socialist Party – was the safe bet chosen to handle one of the most delicate posts in French politics.
The 68-year-old has held several high-level posts in education.
Oudéa-Castera came under fire since her nomination to a mammoth ministry combining education, sports and the Olympics for the way she handled a controversy over her children being privately schooled.
She irritated teachers early on by claiming absenteeism had prompted her decision to school her children in the private system.
Media headlines depicting her as out of touch and part of a privileged and aloof elite overshadowed the first days of Attal's government.
Speaking on television on Thursday, Attal acknowledged Oudéa-Castera has provoked a sense of "discomfort", but defended her record.
Four posts for centrist MoDem
There had been speculation that Francois Bayrou, head of the centrist MoDem that is allied to Macron's party, could return to the government.
Bayrou was acquitted on Wednesday in a seven-year case over the fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants by his party after the judge ruled he was owed the "benefit of the doubt".
But on Wednesday Bayrou said he would not enter the government, blaming a lack of "profound agreement on policy to follow".
Bayrou has publicly criticised the appointment of Attal as PM, suggesting he lacked experience. But Attal has denied there are tensions.
"Francois Bayrou is a pillar of French political life," Attal told France 2. "We agreed together that [he] was not necessarily the best solution for the ministry of national education."
MoDem has, however, kept four posts in the new line-up, including Jean-Noel Barrot who takes the post of Europe minister at the foreign ministry.
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