In France: Reshuffling of Ministries Involves Quintessential Imbroglio; New Government of Manuel Valls Promises to Reduce Debt While Allowing the People to Remain "French"

BALTIMORE, Maryland April 2, 2014 - One of the oldest newspapers in the world is La Figaro in Paris. It has been printing since 1828. Apparently, in Paris, there is nothing better than what the french refer to as an "imbroglio." The dictionary says an imbroglio is a complicated disagreement of a bitter nature.

Recall that on Sunday the French had "local" elections. Mayors of all the cities of any appreciable size were elected. In Paris, for the first time, a woman was elected. She was a socialist. But across France, most of the elections had a different kind of result than in Paris. The right wingers had a field day, and where they didn't win, center-right candidates did. Most of the City Halls in Paris are in new hands. On top of that, it was predicted that the election results would cause a shake up among cabinet ministers of the National Government. That has begun. There were two brand new ministers: Ségolène Royal and François Rebsamen. This is what touched off the imbroglio. La Figaro ran this time line as the new folk tried to move in:

Premier couac pour le gouvernement Valls. A peine le remaniement a-t-il été annoncé que les ministères des Affaires étrangères et de l'Économie se disputent déjà le portefeuille du Commerce extérieur, jusqu'alors détenu par Nicole Bricq. Retour sur une incroyable passe d'armes.
» 12h50 - L'entourage d'Arnaud Montebourg déclare à l'AFP que son nouveau ministère inclura l'Économie, le Redressement productif , le Numérique, et le Commerce extérieur.
» 13h31- Le Quai d'Orsay envoie un communiqué à l'AfP pour l'informer que c'est bien Laurent Fabius qui devra gérer le commerce extérieur dans le cadre de son ministère des Affaires étrangères élargi au «développement international».
» 14h24 - Une source anonyme au Quai D'Orsay confirme à nouveau à l'AFP que Laurent Fabius aura le Commerce extérieur, «en récompense de la diplomatie économique», chère à l'ancien premier ministre.
» 14h46 - Le ministère de l'Économie contre-attaque en annonçant à l'agence que la passation des attributions du ministère du Commerce extérieur se fera entre Nicole Bricq et Arnaud Montebourg, jeudi à 10h à Bercy.
» 15h32 - Une autre source anonyme du quai d'Orsay tente d'expliquer l'imbroglio: «Les décrets d'attribution des compétences des ministres sont en cours de rédaction et c'est très délicat car des pans de Bercy vont passer sous le contrôle du Quai d'Orsay». Bercy a donc encore du soucis à se faire...
» 17h07 - Nouveau retournement! Une dépêche annonce la nomination de Fleur Pellerin comme secrétaire d'État au Commerce extérieur, au Tourisme et probablement aux Affaires européennes. Une source gouvernementale affirme qu'elle sera bien rattachée au Quai d'Orsay.
Cette rocambolesque bataille par dépêches interposées semble donc tourner au camouflet pour Arnaud Montebourg qui voit lui échapper le portefeuille du Commerce extérieur.

Another Paris Newspaper. Le Monde, explained that the new government of Manuel Valls named only two new ministers; some 16 ministers under the previous government have been asked to stay. Some observers questioned whether the new government was really new. Valls says he wants to start getting work done immediately instead of waiting around for a list of new ministers to get acquainted with their agencies. He says France must cut its debt and under his government it will cut its debt. But he will insist that France "be France." He doesn't expect the people to live some kind of draconian life so that the debt can be dealt with. Le Monde says the two words that best sum up the new Valls government will be efficiency and continuity.

As can be judged by the exchange above, there is no complacency in Paris. The squabble reported by La Figaro shows how passionately the ministers feel about their work. And if those squabbles spill over into the public, so be it. Stay tuned.