France's new government.
President Francois Hollande has kept Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron while letting Green party members back into government. The change appears more a matter of electoral politics than substance: it tries to cement a coalition on the left to help Hollande pass the first round of the 2017 presidential election without altering the government's economic or political orientation. Such a tactical manoeuvre is neither likely to allow France to exit its current predicament nor Hollande to recover from his deep unpopularity.
With this reshuffle, Hollande may have consolidated his majority enough for it to hold until the presidential election of April-May 2017.
It will certainly guarantee that he will be the only candidate from the executive -- neither Valls nor Macron will stand against him.
By sticking with a 'social-liberal' line, Hollande is fostering alternative candidates, both within and without the Socialist Party.
Fabius's departure is likely to muffle even more France's voice on the European and international scene, and in global climate negotiations.
