Hollande sacks socialist rebels in reshuffle
THE FRENCH government was dissolved yesterday, after just four months in office, following a scathing attack on the Eurozone’s economic policies from economy minister Arnaud Montebourg.
Embattled President Francois Hollande formed the government in April, when Prime Minister Manuel Valls was brought into office after the Socialist Party’s gruelling losses in local elections.
But during a speech to a political rally in the south of France this weekend, Montebourg advocated a “major shift in economic policy”, calling the Eurozone’s current stance a failure.
Yesterday the former minister announced that he would seek no position in the next government, along with Benoit Hamon and Aurelie Filppetti, two other ministers.
Montebourg had actually been promoted during the previous reshuffle, a move which analysts believed would help shore up critics on Hollande’s left.
Dominique Barbet of BNP Paribas said those critics may get louder: “Dozens of socialist MPs have refused to vote for laws presented by the outgoing government on several occasions. More will do so in the future.”