The next Prime Minister of France?

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's Ayrault.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It's Ayrault.

Pingvin is probably mourning right now, it's not Aubry, as for some reason he seems to like her very much.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's Ayrault.

Pingvin is probably mourning right now, it's not Aubry, as for some reason he seems to like her very much.

Really ? Weird.

[Hash]

Aubry has Muslim connections.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Government to be nominated at 4PM CEST. Aubry and Rebsamen are both out, Valls will apparently get Intérieur, Fabius will get Foreign Affairs. Not much else is known.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Government to be nominated at 4PM CEST. Aubry and Rebsamen are both out, Valls will apparently get Intérieur, Fabius will get Foreign Affairs. Not much else is known.

Delayed. This looks like a failure...

[Antonio the Sixth]

30 m to go.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Here we go :

Fabius on foreign affairs
Moscovici on economy
Peillon on education
Taubira on justice
Montebourg on industry
Sapin on labor
Valls on interior
Filippetti on culture
Le Drian on defense

[Antonio the Sixth]

Lots of new names among lower portfolios... François Lamy is in, too, probably on Aubry's request.

No greenie on Environment (it goes to Nivole Bricq). Duflot is the only one in there (Housing).

Najat Vallaud Belkacem is the spokeswoman.

Cahuzac has Budget.

[RodPresident]

Who is by now favourite to get National Assembly's presidency? Aubry, Royal...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Who is by now favourite to get National Assembly's presidency? Aubry, Royal...

Royal barring a major upset. She's made it clear that's the job she wanted, and Hollande has to give her something to make her quiet.

Aubry will keep the lead of the party until the next congress, in Septenber, then no idea.

[minionofmidas]

And I strongly dislike humans.

I can get behind that!

[minionofmidas]

Najat Vallaud Belkacem is the spokeswoman.

I looked her up... running in a probably hopeless seat, alas.

[RodPresident]

Maybe Aubry was promised a job of European Commissioner in 2014 or even to get daddy's former job in Brussels.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Najat Vallaud Belkacem is the spokeswoman.

I looked her up... running in a probably hopeless seat, alas.

I don't know who invented this stupid rule for which a minister defeated in legislative elections has to resign. Ministers can't even hold a parliamentary mandate, so they should not run in first place.

[Insula Dei]

Maybe Aubry was promised a job of European Commissioner in 2014 or even to get daddy's former job in Brussels.

That's not for Hollande to give away, I'm afraid. (Not to say I would mind if Aubry ever managed to get hold of it, just doesn't strike me as likely.)

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Maybe Aubry was promised a job of European Commissioner in 2014 or even to get daddy's former job in Brussels.

The left would need to win the 2014 Euro elections first for her to be president. Might be a possibility if they do however. There are few high-ranking left-wingers in the commishion at the moment, and a lot of them will be replaced in the next commishion which leaves a possibility for Aubry. 

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I feel kind of sorry for Fabius. I mean, the dude is a former Prime Minister for 26 years now.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I feel kind of sorry for Fabius. I mean, the dude is a former Prime Minister for 26 years now.

This asshole should have retired long ago. He's been a thorn in the side of the PS for decades.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Anyways, Fabius is the only "meh" news of the day (though it was to be expected). Other things seem fine. Moscovici on Economy is a great pick, so is Peillon on education and I think Valls is the kind of socialist which can do a good job on security issues and thus change the party's image. There are lots of "new" (or say, half-new) faces, which is a good thing for political marketing and means they are at least trying to do some kind of effort at renewing the political landscape. Overall, there aren't much surprises, but that's probably better so. It's probably better to have Aubry out, too, though I can't imagine she won't play any role in future.

So, yes, that's good enough. Of course, there's not much worth to put in this government. As usual, the legislatives will result in a little reshuffle, with possibly the need to deal with FG (and give something more to EELV) if the PS doesn't have an absolute majority, and the stupid requirement to fire "losing" ministers. The ridiculous quirks of French politics...

[Hash]

FTR, the full list:


- Laurent Fabius, ministre des Affaires étrangères

- Vincent Peillon, ministre de l’Education nationale

- Christiane Taubira, Garde des Sceaux, ministre de la Justice (PRG)

- Pierre Moscovici, ministre de l’Economie, des Finances et du commerce extérieur

- Marisol Touraine, ministre des Affaires sociales et de la santé

- Cécile Duflot, ministre de l’Egalité des territoires et du logement (Green)

- Manuel Valls, ministre de l’Intérieur

- Nicole Bricq, ministre de l’Ecologie, du développement durable et de l'énergie

- Arnaud Montebourg, ministre du Redressement productif

- Michel Sapin, ministre du Travail, de l’emploi et du dialogue social

- Jean-Yves Le Drian, ministre de la Défense

- Aurélie Filippetti, ministre de la Culture et de la communication

- Geneviève Fioraso, ministre de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la recherche

- Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, ministre des Droits des femmes et porte-parole du gouvernement

- Stéphane Le Foll, ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’agroalimentaire

- Marylise Lebranchu, ministre de la Réforme de l’Etat, de la décentralisation et de la fonction publique

- Victorin Lurel, ministre des Outremer

- Valérie Fourneyron, ministre des Sports, de la jeunesse, de l'éducation populaire et de la vie associative

MINISTRES DELEGUES

- Jérôme Cahuzac, ministre délégué auprès du ministre de l’Economie, des finances et du commerce extérieur, chargé du Budget

- George Pau-Langevin, ministre délégué auprès du ministre de l’Education nationale, chargée de la Réussite éducative

- Alain Vidalies, ministre délégué auprès du Premier ministre, chargé des Relations avec le Parlement

- Delphine Batho, ministre déléguée auprès de la Garde des Sceaux ministre de la Justice

- François Lamy, ministre délégué auprès de la ministre de l’Egalité des territoires et du logement, chargé de la Ville

- Bernard Cazeneuve, ministre délégué auprès du Ministre des Affaires étrangères, chargé des Affaires européennes

- Michèle Delaunay, ministre déléguée auprès de la ministre des Affaires sociales et de la Santé, chargée des Personnes âgées et de la dépendance

- Sylvia Pinel, ministre déléguée auprès du ministre du Redressement productif, chargée de l’Artisanat, du commerce et du tourisme (PRG)

- Benoît Hamon, ministre délégué auprès du ministre de l’Economie, des finances et du commerce extérieur, chargé de l’Economie sociale et solidaire

- Dominique Bertinotti, ministre déléguée auprès de la ministre des Affaires sociales et de la santé, chargée de la Famille

- Marie-Arlette Carlotti, ministre déléguée auprès de la ministre des Affaires sociales et de la santé, chargée des Personnes handicapées

- Pascal Canfin, ministre délégué auprès du ministre des Affaires étrangères, chargé du Développement (Green)

- Yamina Benguigui, ministre déléguée auprès du ministre des Affaires étrangères, chargée des Français de l'étranger et de la francophonie

- Frédéric Cuvillier, ministre délégué auprès de la ministre de l’Ecologie et du développement durable, chargé des Transports et de l'économie maritime

- Fleur Pellerin, ministre déléguée auprès du ministre du Redressement productif, chargée des PME, de l’innovation et de l'économie numérique

- Kader Arif, ministre délégué auprès du ministre de la Défense, chargé des Anciens combattants.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

I feel kind of sorry for Fabius. I mean, the dude is a former Prime Minister for 26 years now.

This asshole should have retired long ago. He's been a thorn in the side of the PS for decades.

Fabius pissed me off big time in 2005.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I feel kind of sorry for Fabius. I mean, the dude is a former Prime Minister for 26 years now.

This asshole should have retired long ago. He's been a thorn in the side of the PS for decades.

Fabius pissed me off big time in 2005.

He had become a specialist in flip-flopping, political tricks and schemes long before 2005. This was his masterpiece, undoubtedly.

[Hash]

If anybody gives a sh**t, here are my impressions and feelings about this government.

Parity is good, and it is also pleasing that parity has not meant in reality filling the government with morons (Morano, Bachelot etc) or deadwood (MAM).

I probably agree with Antonio about Fabius, but in reality foreign affairs is not that huge of a deal despite the appearance of Fabius probably being second in the protocol order. It is always depressing to see how that arrogant, egotistical and hypocritical idiot has always managed to find a cushy job for him in all cases. He will probably be as incompetent as foreign minister as he was in all other jobs he held, but at least he's not in a position to be a real disaster.

I don't know much about Peillon, but I've never been enamored with him, though I'll certainly give him the benefit of the doubt in a ministry in which he could do well given his experience, even though Hollande's education policy is frankly ridiculous.

I'm disappointed to see Taubira be rewarded with such an important and high-profile ministry. That annoying sod is another arrogant and egotistical idiot who is in love with herself and cameras taking pictures of her. Which made her support of Montebourg, another annoying stuck-up jerk who is in love with himself and cameras taking pictures of him, quite understandable (and another reason to dislike her, besides being a constant annoyance). She'll probably be some kind of stupid useless faux-activist minister who will do nothing particularly useful but troll the government and stage Montebourg-like fits and scenes.

Moscovici and Cahuzac are probably the best choices which could be made for the ministries which ultimately matter the most. Mosco is a tested, experienced, moderate, pragmatic and intelligent guy who isn't a retarded demagogue like half of the PS. I don't know as much about Cahuzac, but he gives the appearance of being a guy who will be good at solving the debt/deficit problems.

I don't know much about Touraine, Sapin or Bricq but they seem fairly decent. I'd have preferred to see Duflot as environment minister, because housing and "territorial equality" is a pretty useless job to get. It would also be cool, in general, to see some more Greenies, but there's lots of deadwood in that party and they're returning to their pre-2009 state of general irrelevance at an alarming speed.

"Ministre du Redressement productif" is a ridiculously langue de bois/fluff title (it is also quite hilarious), just as ridiculous as the guy who holds it. Of course, Montebourg needed to be rewarded with some portfolio because he found so many gullible idiots who bought into his retarded demagoguery. Thankfully, industry is a portfolio which seems to be good just for the idiots de service and the literal idiots (Estrosi, Chatel, Besson, Devedjian) and it also a fairly useless and inoffensive position in which he will not be too destructive or in a dangerous position to turn things into sh**t. It is still fairly depressing to see that arrogant, stuck-up, pretentious, hypocritical and egotistical demagogue in such a position (it is also depressing that so many lefties find him hip and all that), given that I've hated his guts and his face since 2007. A real pity, in hindsight, that Arnaud Danjean didn't beat him in 2007

Le Drian is a Breton patriot, a native son and a specialist in defense matters. He'll do a good job. Fairly pleasing to see Bretons in the cabinet, though Ayrault remains a reactionary freedom-hater on the matter of reunification (which means that I'll never like him). Filippetti is an intelligent woman and she'll do well, and she's also grown up from her youthful naivete of 2007 (when she was a Royal hack). Vallaud-Belkacem is not only hot but, like Filippetti she's more intelligent than she was back in 2007. But what a useless cushy job she got! FTR, she's not running in the legislatives anymore.

Victorin Lurel will certainly be miles more competent than that corrupt moron Marie-Luce Penchard was.

The ministres deleguees are not as important, but they seem fairly correct. Benoît Hamon will not do too much damage in that low level job, which is all he deserves. Sylvia Pinel is kind of hot, but hopefully she'll be more useful in cabinet than in Parliament.

I am pleased that Martine is out. It is also pathetic (and sadistically amusing) that she probably threw a major hissy fit and is now going to proceed to bitch at Hollande and use her apparatus control to troll Hollande. What an arrogant, stuck-up jerk she is. Like my former Spanish prof, her life and our lives would be so much more enjoyable if only she smiled once in a while. I feel as if the PS will not resist the urges of returning to its perennial civil wars for very long.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

It is always depressing to see how that arrogant, egotistical and hypocritical idiot has always managed to find a cushy job for him in all cases.

But below his ambitions. He's trying to be Presidents for years and never succeeded