Emmanuel Macron was inaugurated as President of France for a second five-year term at the Elysée Palace yesterday, days before the start of his second term.
After the head of the Constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius, confirmed Macron’s victory in the second round on April 24 over far-right candidate Marine Le Pen with 58.55% of the vote, the French President called in a short speech to “move relentlessly” towards making France “more independent”.
Macron’s inauguration ceremony was simple but full of symbolic connotations: he became the fourth president to be re-elected under the Fifth Republic in France after de Gaulle, Mitterrand and Chirac, similar to what happened to these predecessors, without leaving the presidential palace.
Macron spoke to some 450 invited guests, members of his family including his wife Brigitte, friends and members of the government, Prime Minister Jean Custix, as well as high-ranking officials from both houses of parliament, representatives of universities, unions, religions and others.
Also present were former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, as well as Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
The re-elected president also urged health care providers, local elected officials, association representatives, athletes and youth to be reminded of the priorities he will work on during his new term, including reforming the hospital system.
Macron’s potential difficulty in finding the right person to lead the government is fueling speculation.
Véronique Bedag, director of the office of former Prime Minister Emmanuel Valls and now CEO of the Nexity real estate group, appears to have turned down the offer, as did Socialist MP Valerie Rabo, who said she was contacted. but she refused so that she would not have to raise her retirement age to 65.
On the other hand, the Elysee Palace confirms that “the president did not offer anyone the position of prime minister.”
The French historian Jean Garrigue expected a number of difficulties from Macron in this regard.
