Emmanuel Macron’s grip on the French presidency looked increasingly shambolic on Wednesday after he was forced to accept the resignation overnight of his interior minister, one of his staunchest allies.
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| Gérard Collomb, 71, left the interior ministry on Wednesday morning just 24 hours after Mr Macron had refused to allow him to quit |
In the latest humiliating blow to France's centrist president, who is facing a nightmarish return from the summer recess, Gérard Collomb, 71, left the interior ministry on foot on Wednesday morning just 24 hours after Mr Macron had refused to allow his once loyal ally to quit.
He was officially replaced by Edouard Philippe, the prime minister.
Mr Collomb, one of the pillars of the Macron administration, had previously let it be known that he planned to leave the interior ministry next May to run for his old job as mayor of the city of Lyon.
But he came under pressure to step down immediately as critics argued it was untenable to run such a powerful ministry while preparing for the campaign trail.
"Considering the rumours and the pressure, I don't want the fact I will be a candidate somewhere tomorrow to affect the way forward for the interior ministry," he said.
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His announcement setting the countdown to his departure had already been seen as a direct challenge to the authority of Mr Macron, some 31-years his junior and who Mr Collomb has previously said was like a son to him. Under the French constitution, the president names and removes ministers upon instructions from the premier, not the ministers themselves.
Seeking to regain the upper hand on Monday night, Mr Macron’s office said the president had vetoed his resignation attempt, saying that he still had enjoyed his full “confidence”. But the following day, Mr Collomb insisted he still intended to resign, throwing the government into crisis.
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| Gerard Collomb shakes hands with French prime minister Edouard Philippe, appointed interim interior minister, during a handover ceremony in Paris on Wednesday |
"Gerard Collomb has resigned again. How long is this sketch going to last?" tweeted far-right leader Marine Le Pen Tuesday. “The Titanic is sinking faster and faster and the band has stopped playing,” said Eric Ciotti, MP for the Right-wing opposition party, The Republicans.
Overnight, the Elysée finally announced that the president had "accepted the resignation of Gerard Collomb and asked the prime minister to act in his place until the announcement of a successor”.
On Wednesday morning, Mr Edouard took over from Mr Collomb in an icy handover at Place Beauveau, the interior ministry compound a stone’s throw from the presidential palace.
The relationship between the president and Mr Collomb reportedly nosedived this summer over a scandal surrounding Mr Macron's former security aide Alexandre Benalla.
The former bodyguard was filmed beating up protesters while wearing a police helmet, sparking the worst political crisis of the presidency when it emerged that senior officials knew about it.
Instead of closing ranks, Mr Collomb heaped blame on Mr Macron's office, saying it was their responsibility to report the incident to prosecutors. He went on to warn the president against becoming arrogant and isolated, and railed against his "start-up nation".
His departure is the latest in a string of setbacks for Mr Macron, whose approval ratings are languishing at around 34 percent after a rosy first year.
In recent weeks, his government has been forced to cut its growth forecast amid French impatience over the effects of his pro-business reforms on their daily lives.
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Mr Macron was already reeling from the departure of star environment minister Nicolas Hulot, who quit live on air without warning the president first. That was swiftly followed by another popular member of the cabinet, former Olympic fencing champion Laura Flessel, who resigned as sports minister for "personal reasons”.
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| The relationship between Emmanuel Macron and Gerard Collomb reportedly nosedived this summer over a scandal surrounding Mr Macron's former security aide |
François Fressoz, political commentator for Le Monde newspaper, called the latest departure a “spectacular shrinkage of the presidential power base”.
“This is truly a crisis of authority at the pinnacle of state that Emmanuel Macron’s former ally has unleashed - even more spectacular than the one which undermined the presidency of François Hollande," she wrote, referring to his hapless predecessor.
Guillaume Tabard, editorialist at Le Figaro, wrote: "The president's authority has been trampled on and ridiculed."
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